Quick Guide: How to REALLY Stack Lightning Lanes with Genie +

We spent the ENTIRE day at our resort. Then at 6pm, we went to Hollywood Studios and rode almost every ride by 8pm (including Slinky Dog, Toy Story Mania, Smuggler’s Run, Rise of the Resistance AND Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway). Wanna see how we pulled it off? Watch this video!

[@vid.master]

This video is exactly what I was looking for. All the other genie plus explanation videos are 30+ minutes long and left me with more questions than answers. Simple short and right to the point with real world examples. Now I feel so much better about using genie plus. Thanks!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you so much!

[@melissabrown6644]

Thank you!! I have been watching video after video trying to figure out how to work Genie+ and just ended up more confused and frustrated and wasn't going to purchase it since I wasn't going to the park until the afternoon.. your video was the best one!! Now I know what to do!

[@osheanahatfield7212]

My godness, I have search and watched so many videos and then there is this one…. The one video that is direct and straightforward. We will be going to HS in the evening and this video is the chef’s kiss!!!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you so much! I hope you get/got every lightning lane you wanted!!

[@jamiecastillo4499]

Thank you so much for this. One thing that is important for me to note is the location of each of these rides and how my whole plan also accounts for any fireworks or cavalcades that happen around my family’s ride plan. I have never been here but will be going next week! Thank you SO much for showing us how you did it.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

We are so happy to hear that this was helpful for you. And good luck! Hopefully you are able to score most or all of the rides you’re hoping to get!

[@calliebannon9661]

Thanks for just explaining and showing clearly what to do! Most useful video I've seen yet!!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You're very welcome! Thanks for the kind words!

[@juliesmith7503]

OMG i have needed this exact information and showing you actually using your phone helped me understand so much more. THANK YOU!!!!

[@JoelFearon]

Incredibly helpful video! Simple explanations with real examples. Thank you!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful!

[@levifrederick300]

This is incredibly useful, cant wait to party like its 1999 🎉 bless you, sending you god like vibes

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

So glad you gained something from our video!

[@alex102488]

Great video. I’m planning on doing Animal Kingdom in the morning and do this exact thing for the night. Awesome to see it actually work. Thank you.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you! Animal Kingdom is a GREAT park to do this with. Have an amazing time!

[@tateapage]

Thanks so much for such a wonderful explanation of stacking 😊

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You are so welcome!

[@akilah1011]

Best video I’ve seen explaining stacking. I was planning on doing this for Animal Kingdom on the day we arrive. May switch to HS instead.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you so much!! This would actually work REALLY well at Animal Kingdom!

[@tanyanewman7469]

Thanks so much very informative

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

So glad to help!!

[@kristine7766]

I just got back. The new booking method is great. I would suggest waking up at 7 and booking a lighting lane ASAP. Then you can book ur next at 9. Late in the evening I noticed for some rides I was able to book after an hour. Modifying didn’t affect the 2 hour mark for me but if you cancel it you’ll only have one reservation if you’ve had two which is annoying. You gotta stay on top of it. I liked the new method a lot though. We got on all the rides we wanted in every park

[@tashunal.]

It’s 2 hours after that particular park opens

[@kinoglaza]

Great info thanks! I need to use this strategy when I go there in a few weeks for a conference. I won’t enter the parks until after 5pm on a few days. 👍

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Nice!! Hopefully this method allows you to get to ride everything you want! Just remember to start picking your first ride as early as possible (7am) because you can’t pick the second ride until 2 hours after park opens, and then every two hours after that. So you can get one at 7am, one at 11 am (if park opens at 9), another at 1, another at 3 and then another at 5pm. 5 stacked lightning lanes ain’t bad for not being in the park til 5pm!

[@MagicalDayWithBae]

I think we will try this strategy on our next trip!!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Let us know how it works out for you!

[@juliesmith7503]

MY GOODNESS , I JUST NEED TO SAY THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You’re welcome! Hopefully you are able to secure all your lightning lanes for your next trip 😊

[@johncubusm9294]

Thanks for sharing! This is going to help us a lot in a couple months! I had no idea you can book lightning lane passes before entering the parks at DW. I wish Disneyland would do this!

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Awesome to hear that it’s helpful!! Remember the earlier you start booking in the morning, the more rides you’ll be able to stack since you can only pick a ride every two hours. Once you pick your first ride at 7am, you can’t pick the second ride until two hours after the park opens (so probably 10 or 11). Then you’ll be able to stack every two hours until time for you to get in the park. And wow I didn’t know Disneyland didn’t do this! We’ve never been to DL before

[@johncubusm9294]

@@parkhoppinghaleys Thanks again for the tips! This will be our first time to Disney World so we’re very excited. Unfortunately, Disneyland requires guests to first enter a theme park to make lightning lane selections. But once your ticket has been scanned you can get them from anywhere outside the park.

[@melissabrown6644]

I just went to DL a few weeks ago for the first time, it is sooooo much more manageable (less stressful too!) The wait times weren't bad at all, I didn't feel like we really needed it. They thing that sold me was that at DL photopass is included with Genie+

[@sarahbennett7235]

This was very interesting. So in your experience is it better to stack your day toward evening rather then try to book everything in the morning? If you book early once you scan in you can book another LL correct? It seems like you would have the potential to obtain more LL by booking early. Never used Genie + as we are a fam of 5 so it is very pricey but interested in learning more for our upcoming trip. Thank you this was a very simple to the point video :)

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you for commenting! It could really be done either way. If we are gonna be in the park all day, we would most likely opt for getting the early bookings, because like you said, you can get another LL once you scan in. However, if you want to leisurely enjoy your time at the resorts or enjoy other aspects of Disney like Disney Springs, the method we show in the video is perfect. Booking the LL for early in the day in my opinion is more risky because everyone in the parks at that time would be going after the same LLs so I think it makes planning the day out a little more erratic, but still fun either way!

[@bearhall4919]

This is nuts.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You could mean that in a nice way or a mean way.. we hope it was helpful for ya!

[@thaliac2063]

Do you have to make reservations to use Disney + or is there just a line on the side you go too

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Hmm not sure what you mean.. you do have to purchase Genie + to reserve lightning lanes, and once you pick each lightning lane, there are separate lines to stand in at each attraction that is shorter than the standby queue

[@a610412]

So while I’m stacking these rides for the evening, am I able to get in line and ride other rides in the morning?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Yep! In the standby line, you absolutely can!

[@joephillips5594]

Don't you have to scan into the parks before you can start booking LLs?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You can book your first lightning lane before you scan into the parks! Then the next lightning lane can either be booked two hours after park opens, or if it’s later in the day, two hours after you book your first one, OR one or once you redeem the first lightning lane 😊

[@kristine7766]

You can’t book the next lightning lane until u scan into the other ride

[@laurenferguson6389]

So when buy genie + you get two lifhtning lanes and do you book those at midnight or have to choose at 7?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

You can buy genie + at midnight on the day you are going to the park. You can make your first lightning lane selection at 7am. Once that first selection is chosen, you have to wait until 2 hours after park opens to make the second selection OR if you choose a lightning lane that is close to time of the park open, then once you scan in and use the first lightning lane, you can immediately choose your next one.

[@laurenferguson6389]

@@parkhoppinghaleys the first lightning I choose at 7 with only genie + is that resort guests only or everyone?

[@kristine7766]

@@parkhoppinghaleyswe were just in Disney too and if we booked a ride using lightning lane for let’s say 5pm we couldn’t book a lighting lane for another ride sooner…..u have to scan into the ride before booking the next. Are you a Florida resident?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

@@laurenferguson6389that is for everyone who bought genie +. The only rides that are “off limits” to book at 7 are the “individual lightning lanes” that are a separate price, and only those who have a resort stay can book the individual lightning lanes at 7am.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

@@kristine7766yes we are Florida residents but that is the case for everyone. You can’t book your next lightning lane until you either check in to the one you have or until 2 hours have passed. That’s why we set an alarm for every two hours, because we weren’t going to the park until later and weren’t going to be redeeming our lightning lanes until the evening

[@rizz917]

Hi, all. So, you purchased Genie + for the day. At 7AM you began to select LL rides for the day? You chose your first two LL, then you can chose your 3rd LL two hrs after rope drop?? Is that right? Thaaaanks!

[@Tomy_Bruno]

Not exactly. They made 1 genie+ selection(slinky dog) at 7a then made an additional purchase to buy Rise because it is an “Individual Lightning Lane” ILL’s are not included in G+, hence the “individual” portion of the name. All parks have ILL rides that are not included with genie plus and cost extra on top of genie+. You pretty much need to attend a college course to understand all the nuances of Genie+, lightning lanes, individual lightning lanes, pricing, multiple park Genie+…..etc etc it’s exhausting

[@rizz917]

@@Tomy_Bruno Hi, Tom. So, I think I can just buy an ILL by itself, I dont need to purchase Genie +... Is that right? Thanks!

[@Tomy_Bruno]

Right if you are going to HS and just want to buy Rise, you can without buying Genie+. The caveats to getting a Rise ILL are this. You can buy it starting at 7a if you are staying on Disney property. If you are staying off property you cannot buy it until the park open time. This works for any ILL attraction. Mine Train or Tron at MK, Flight of Passage at AK, or Gaurdians at Epcot We do this with Guardians a lot when we are going to end up at Epcot

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Yes Tomy is correct! Once you buy genie+, you can make your first selection at 7am. Your next selection can be made 2 hours after the park opens OR once you check into the first lightning lane you picked. Since we were going later in the day, we were not going to be able to redeem our lightning lanes quickly so we were able to choose a new one every 2 hours, and it allowed us to stack them all in the evening so by the time we got to the park they were all planned out 😊

[@kristine7766]

@@rizz917u can buy lightning lane and that includes a ton of rides but then the really really good rides in high demand you have to pay an additional price

[@MrMaxRebos]

Can you explain how to modify?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Yes! From the home screen of the my Disney experience app, you will click on “my day”. The next screen that pops up will list all the rides you have lightning lanes for. You can just click on whatever ride you want to modify the time for and it will ask if you want to “modify” or “cancel” the reservation for that ride. Click “modify” and it will take you to the screen that gives you the options for all the other rides. Just scroll until you reach that same ride, and see if there is an earlier or later time (based on what you want). If you end up not wanting to change it you can cancel out without losing your original reservation time.

[@levifrederick300]

Freeze frame @8:44

[@kichvalentine7064]

This was amazing. Love the REAL examples. I really want to go to Disney but then decided NOT to because I felt I wouldn’t get to do all the rides I want. Do you think with this method it’s possible?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Thank you! There are a lot of factors that’ll go into play regarding how successful this method is. If the parks are EXTREMELY busy that day, there will be more people buying genie + and therefore less options to choose since everyone will be grabbing the available lighting lanes for themselves. I think personally the BEST approach is to be honest with yourself about what you want to ride, what you want to get out of the trip, and plan accordingly. This method in the video will allow you to stack lightning lanes for an evening at the parks while you enjoy your day doing something else (which could be hanging out in the park but not necessarily riding anything yet). You could also use this method to stack rides for later while still waiting in line for other rides that you can’t get a lightning lane for. Do you have a specific park in mind you’re wanting to do? Maybe we can give you some pointers based on what you imagine your perfect park day to be!

[@kichvalentine7064]

@@parkhoppinghaleys Aww thank you! You’re so sweet. We’re planning now and like you mentioned since crowd levels impact how Much you can get done we were thinking of going mid September to Disney world and magic kingdom. I hear though September is still very very hot but supposedly much less crowds?

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

@@kichvalentine7064we like going in September but my favorite month is probably October, less hot and somewhat less crowded.

[@bearhall4919]

I hate this. I hate lightning lanes. I hate Disney.

[@parkhoppinghaleys]

Why are you watching Disney videos if you hate Disney? You should watch videos that bring you joy! Sorry this video couldn’t do that for ya. Have an amazing day!