How to Use Genie+ at Disneyland to SKIP THE LINES in 2024 | Tips & Tutorial
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- How to use Genie+ at Disneyland with a step-by-step tutorial explaining which rides to choose first and why for the best Genie Plus strategy.
We'll cover the two hour rule, how to modify your selections, how to use the Tip Board effectively, and more.
LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for more Disneyland vlogs, food reviews, and more.
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CONTENT MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO
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26 Best Genie+ Tips to Skip the Lines - • 26 Best Genie+ Tips to...
Genie+ Challenge (Every Ride in One Day) - • Is Genie+ Worth It at ...
MagicBand+ at Disneyland - • EVERYTHING You Need to...
CHAPTER
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0:00 Genie Plus Disneyland Tutorial
0:14 Buying Genie+
1:04 Choosing the First Lightning Lane
2:38 How to Modify Selection
3:44 Why The Most Popular Ride First?
4:32 Using A Lightning Lane
5:56 When To Book Your Second LL
6:42 The 2-Hour Rule Explained
8:08 Planning Future Lighting Lanes
9:36 Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway
11:13 How to Use the 2-Hour Rule Effectively
13:05 LLs Are Only Once Per Ride
14:31 Multi-Experience Passes
15:46 How To Use of Genie+ Like a Pro
18:35 Final Tips on Genie Plus
19:24 Outro
RESOURCES
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Disneyland Food Guide 2024 - • Disneyland 2024 Ultima...
Disney California Adventure Food Guide 2024 - • Disney California Adve...
Disneyland Full Tour - • Disneyland Walkthrough...
Disney California Adventure Full Tour - • Disney California Adve...
Disneyland Ride Guide 2024 - • Disneyland Rides 2024 ...
Disney California Adventure Rides 2024 - • Disney California Adve...
15 Tips to Save Money at Disneyland - • 15 Ways to Save Money ...
15 Disneyland Mistakes to Avoid - • 15 Mistakes To Avoid a...
15 Best Snacks at Disneyland - • 15 BEST Disneyland Sna...
SOCIAL
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FACEBOOK: / socaldisneydad
INSTAGRAM: / socaldisneydad
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If you enjoyed this video and found it helpful, please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Thank you!
You have seriously helped plan my family’s trip in March 2024, all year long. I appreciate all you do! The content you and your family post is just so valuable for planning and navigating a trip to Disneyland.
I used to go often as a child but have not been back in 15 years. It’s all different now! It was so overwhelming trying to understand and figure it all out! Until I found your channel! Thank you!!!
This means a lot. Thank you!
I’m in that same boat and am going in April!! Such helpful content on this channel!!!
Your videos have helped out so much! It's our first time going to Disneyland and we've watched your videos from the moment before we booked the trip up until today when we're a week out. I feel ready to navigate Disneyland because of you. Thank you for making these videos!
Thank you so much for making this content! I am planning my first ever trip to Disneyland later this year and your videos are making it so much easier to plan!!
Wow! This is incredibly helpful to actually see a walk through of the process. I haven’t been to Disneyland since they had the old fast pass system of the boxes by the rides…so it’s been awhile. Your explanation and thorough walk thru is just 👍🏻 thanks for answering all the “seemingly obvious” questions for people like me who haven’t been there in quite some time!
Thank you! I've become a huge fan of your videos! They've helped me so much for my upcoming trip in February ❤
I’m so glad to hear this. Thanks for watching!
A great and informative vlog. Genie can be confusing and everyone has different strategies on how to use it. Thank you for sharing your experience using it.
Thank you so much, this is very informative and has helped my planning.
Just had the best 2 days at Disneyland. My husband said to me that getting the lighting lane was the best money well spent! I just said to him that SoCal Disney Dad told me all about it. 😂 Thanks for helping me plan for the trip!! I’m so glad that I found your channel. I can’t wait to watch the Disney World videos!!
Loved hearing about this. Thanks for sharing and glad you had an awesome trip!
Thank you for the awesome video. It was very helpful 😊
This was so helpful! Thank you!
This was VERY helpful! Thank you!
Thank you so much for all this awesome info! I’ve deep-dived through your channel to prep for our trip in April! My husband and I are celebrating our honeymoon and can’t wait to enjoy it a little bit more knowing all the awesome advice you give!
Congrats on your wedding and honeymoon!
If you ever have any questions about anything with regards to your trip, feel free to drop a line on any video and I’d be happy to answer what I can.
Thanks for actually including tips and strategies in your genie plus video!
Thank you! This is just what we need for our spring break trip.
Hope it’s helpful!
@@SoCalDisneyDad Your videos always are!
Thank you for video. It helps a lot
It was very helpful to see what you were doing in real time. We are coming for spring break so it will be interesting to see how our experience as first timers go during a super busy time. Hoping for the best! 😂
The experience shouldn’t be too much different. I would just expect that a few rides, like Smuggler’s and Big Thunder, will actually start to disappear instead of being available immediately.
If you check out our video from last year. The 26 tips video, we filmed that on April 14th. Which is the tail end of Spring Break. It was probably a lot busier than this day.
Might give you an idea of what to expect.
Great informative video! I wish you had done this video a week ago! I just got back from Disneyland and although I figured out how to use Genie+, it would have been so helpful to see this before hand. The last time I used Genie+ was 2 years ago in WDW so there was a slight learning curve.
Thanks for making this video!!! We will be upgrading to genie + on our next visit in May. Great job on the explanation!
It’s totally worth it. Highly recommend.
honestly saving this video
My son and I recently returned home to Texas after our Disneyland trip. We usually visit WDW during December and have never bought Genie Plus because of the cost. But on this trip, we broke down and purchased it and are so glad we did. We got so much more accomplished!
I used to grumble and complain about the cost of Genie+. I still do to some extent, just that I never really get to use it because it doesn’t make logical sense to pay for it once a week. It would be nice if they had an annual pass add-on for like an extra $300/person. I’d probably do it as often as we go.
Anyway, I’m getting off topic. I used to complain about it because it used to be free of course, but then I started going to Universal and Knott’s and they both charge $100+/person/visit.
I thought about getting it in July and was told it was $199 for just me. I asked them to clarify, because surely I couldn’t have heard right, I already had a ticket. I just wanted Express. “Yes, that is JUST express” they told me. 😳🤯 Needless to say, I didn’t buy it.
My husband and I considered spending a day at Universal during an upcoming trip, but after seeing the cost of Express we decided against it.
Genie + is 30 bucks a person tho
I am going over Summer break!! Thanks!!
Wonderful time to visit.
always love your videos thanks for being so helpful! i’m going to disneyland for my second time ever next month on my birthday. got any birthday hacks for a party of 5?🎂 (it’ll be a saturday)🥳
Love your videos. We are regular Disney World goers who visited Disneyland for the first time in October. Felt very well prepared by your videos. We have similar aged kids and really love the family friendly content you put out. My oldest son is 8 and told me he kept looking out for that Trevor guy because he knew Daddy would love to meet him at the park. Keep up the great Content I hope to make it out for D23 this year.
Aww, thank you! If you ever do see us, please feel free to say hi. I always love meeting folks.
Thank you for making this video! Many people do not understand how to use Genie plus properly. I was just there last week, and so many people we're wasting their LL at 8 am for 15-minute standby lines. Like Amy said, wait in line when is low and use the LL to do it again!
Thank you
God, I miss the days when you just scanned your ticket at the Fast Pass machine at each ride.
Disney has made everything so complex and expensive.
Thanks so much. Not sure I you remember me I thanked you in person when you and your family were dinning at cafe Orleans. You helped our experience out so much easier. Thank you
Of course! Thanks for saying hello! Glad to hear you’re having an awesome time at Disneyland.
Just here to say these videos are awesome! Thank you for all that you do! Another cool thing I learned (for anyone in the comments) is that you can link your group to one account. So just one person needs to make the LL reservation for the group.
Yes! We do that all the time. You can even have multiple people logged into the same account. So my wife logs into my account and just uses that, so we have the mobile orders and same lightning lane access.
Thank you for the video. When selecting LL do you ever take proximity of the rides into consideration when you choose? Or are you ok with walking from one side of the park to the other?
This was so helpful! Ive always been to cheap to buy it but we are thinking of going Monday & Tuesday so i might splurge to avoid waits with 2 toddlers....unless weekdays arent necessary?
I consider myself a Disneyland expert and when friends ask about Genie+ I send them the link to this video. I love the step by step instructions and showing your screen.
I would do exactly what you did but keep modifying my first LL and keep pushing it back until a time after 10am. Everything is a super short wait for the first 2 hours.
That's smart, I'm going tomorrow and I've never used Genie+ before. Got it this time
Hey Traver, great video! Question: My family and I will be getting into Cali on a Tuesday this summer and probably will be entering Disneyland around noon. Are there rides that won't have lightning lanes available at all by that time? I'm used to WDW where I can start booking LLs at 7:00 am.
Having seen one of your previous vids on "fiddle-faddling" (modifying the Genie+ booking and then continually swiping down to refresh to get new available times, like he was trying at 14:30 in this video), I did this ALL.THE.TIME to really great success in getting better times for most-popular rides in both parks. I don't think I ever hit the 2-hour rule in 5 days at Christmas.
It really works. Better at WDW than Disneyland, but definitely can be done. Sometimes it takes some time, but if you’re patient you can get some really good return times.
We are coming to Disneyland next week, first time with two toddlers 3&4. Would you suggest the kiddo rides in fastasyland at rope drop or focus on lighting lane first thing? I know fantasyland rides are not part of LL and busy in the afternoon.
Glad you did this…seeing so many people bashing genie+ when they have no idea what they’re doing with it…👏👏👏👏👏
I never get when people say “I only rode two rides all day with it.”
It just means they either don’t know how to use it, used it wrong, or didn’t even try to buy it until like 3 PM.
@@SoCalDisneyDadcorrect me if you think I’m wrong, but, from my many years in the entertainment business, I see if genie+ was done away with, as so many want, and fast pass or whatever was installed at no charge…the price of admission would go up. It’s simple business math . Then let the screaming begin.
Thank you for the clear tutorial! I haven't been to the parks since Maxpass in 2019 and your videos have been helping me plan my trip in a few weeks! Bummed you didn't get the multi-experience pass.
If you end up obtaining a multi-experience pass does that waste your one Genie+ for the day for the ride initially booked and/or the ride you end up using it on? Also, does it affect the 2 hour time rule in any way or does it still count from when you booked it?
Thanks again for all your great content.
Great questions! Yes, it does eliminate the ride you obtained it from.
So had we gotten it from Roger Rabbit’s, we wouldn’t have been able to book another one later that day.
The MEP can be used on an attraction of equal or lesser value. So it would not have worked on something like Mickey and Minnie’s or Indiana Jones, but might have on Big Thunder and definitely would have on Autopia, Buzz, it’s a small world, etc.
There’s a list that’s only available once you get the MEP that’s specific to whichever ride you got it from.
You can of course use the MEP on the ride you obtained it from, like Roger’s, which is the intent. But you may use it elsewhere if you aren’t interested in Roger’s, like me.
It does NOT eliminate the ride you use it on. So if I had used to on Big Thunder, I could later also book a Big Thunder provided I haven’t ridden it already. Thereby allowing me to ride some Genie+ attractions twice.
For the 2 hour rule, receiving the MEP is equivalent to riding the attraction, so you can immediately book a new Lightning lane as soon as you receive it. In addition to having the MEP available as well.
But you’ll only get it if the ride is broken when you’re 5 minutes out from your return time. So since we booked 30 minutes out, the ride was fixed by the time our window came up and we didn’t get an MEP.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Wow, what a fantasic explanation! Thank you so much.
I'm really looking forward to your rope drop video coming out! I've been watching most of your videos and other rope drop videos to try and come up with a good 1-day at Disneyland gameplan on a Friday. Since I've never rope dropped before it's both intimidating and exciting to have 16 hours of Disneyland time, so I'm seriously considering the take a rest in the middle strategy.
Thank you to you and your family for sharing all your knowledge and joy of Disneyland! I'm so happy I found your channel.
I’m a Disneyworld pro and I’m going to Disneyland next week and didn’t know genie + worked had some differences! Thank you for teaching me and the video was awesome!
Yeah, it’s mostly different in the morning procedure. No early booking at 7 AM or purchasing it at midnight. And you can’t use it unless you’re scanned into the park at least once that day.
Aside from that, functionality is pretty similar.
It’s actually a lot easier to use here, because most attendees are passholders or locals and don’t use Genie+, so reservations don’t disappear as quickly.
I know at WDW, Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise are at like 7 PM for return times by like 7:20 AM.
You won’t see any of that stuff here.
@@SoCalDisneyDad ok awesome! I’m so excited to go to Disneyland because it seems a lot more laid back than wdw! Like at 7 a.m. remits ratatouille adventure already had a 2:30 return time 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for making this tip video! Im going to DL in mid-October for my honeymoon! It seems like Genie+ is worth getting, and it looks like it works better there than WDW. Im also going to be park-hopping, so it should come in handy!
Much easier to use here for sure. There isn’t the rush to get LLs like at WDW where 4 hours are gone in a blink.
And when you are refreshing for a better time you have a couple of seconds to a minute to make your move. Where at WDW, even a moments hesitation means you lose the better time.
Hello, if I understood your video correctly you started with space mountain without genie + and just after you booked a genie + for indiana Jones. I'm still wondering which land to start with my children (4 and 9 years old) If we start with fantasyland or if we do like you. to optimize as much as possible our day. Thank you :D Lily la française!
Great video! It really helped me understand Genie+ and Lightning Lane! I do have two questions; we're going in March as a party of 6, can one person book the lightning lane for all? Also if we all have Genie+ is there an extra charge for booking a Lightning Lane or is that covered with the Genie+ fee? Thanks again for your super informative videos! Cheers!
One person SHOULD do it for all. You will have a hard time if all 6 are trying to book individually. That means all 6 tickets need to be connected to a single device.
And yes, LLs are part of Genie+. Disney made it confusing by using two different terms. I don’t know why. Every other theme park just calls the service and the line the same thing (Express Pass, Fast Lane, etc).
Genie+ is the name of app/service. Lightning Lane is the name for the line you use. But they are the same thing.
Wow! Thank you for the quick reply! Went to Disneyland for the first time in 1956 and have gone many times since just not lately! A lot has changed since! Looking forward to our "new" experience!
Hi, your channel is so helpful. I've been watching your videos and they are so helpful in planning my trip in the summer. I'll be coming with my 4 year old child by myself and since Fantasyland ist a must I'm planning on rope drop to Fantasyland. I was thinking of going land by land but not sure if that will be possible with Genie+ so as to not lose out on some LL. I know you often in your videos go from one land to the next, but since I don't know the distances I wonder if that's a good idea with a stroller or try to go land by land. In DCA it seems a bit easier but in Disneyland it seems like the distances are further. Thanks for your input. Love seeing your family in the videos too :)
On average you can walk from one extreme side of the park to the other in about 10 minutes.
We generally don’t go land by land, and instead chase low wait times. But we also look for those low wait times closer to where we are because we don’t want to do more walking than necessary, but I’m also not going to ride something that has a higher than usual wait just because I’m currently in that land.
My general rule is to never get in line for something over 30-35 minutes.
With some very rare exceptions (Rise of the Resistance chief among them), most rides have times of day where they sit below that threshold. It’s just a matter of doing those bigger/popular rides either early or late to avoid the longest waits.
Wonderful thank you it helps to know that the park can be crossed in about 10 min give or take the amount of people in the park ;) as always super helpful to have your input. Have a good day
@@SoCalDisneyDad
This is such a great video! Easy to understand the concept and process. We visit in August, haven’t been since Feb 2020, so lots to learn before. I am sure I will be binging your videos.
We have magic bands from WDW in 2018…will those work or do we need new ones?
Disneyland only works with MagicBand+. I don’t think WDW had plusses back then. So you probably have a MagicBand 2.
The plusses are rechargeable and light up. If that doesn’t describe your MagicBand, then you’ll need to upgrade.
The good news is MagicBand+ is useful across all Disney properties. We even used ours in Aulani.
@@SoCalDisneyDad oh thank you!! Our home resort is Aulani, that would be fun. Ours definitely do not light up and are not rechargeable. I am in Canada, do you know if we can get the bands when we visit a park or have to have them ahead of time? I could always deep dive into a magic band + 101 video…do you have that? Haha
@@kimkempel You can buy them when you get here. There are plenty to choose from in various stores around the park and in the World of Disney in Downtown Disney.
Here’s my video on MagicBand+
EVERYTHING You Need to Know About MagicBand+ at Disneyland
ua-cam.com/video/OMm3eS5R9Pg/v-deo.html
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you so much! I will watch the video!
Because of dead zones I see which ride I want to do next and book it right away after scanning. That way I'm 'waiting' for the next ride while I'm riding another!
Appreciate these videos so much!! One of quick question… when do you switch from booking furthest out to ride immediately? Or does it just naturally work that way as rides fill up?
Just once we’ve done all the rides that keep pushing out. The immediate rides will always be immediate. So we could ride them at 6 PM if we wanted, etc.
So I usually focus on the rides that are disappearing so I don’t engage the 2 hour rule, and so I don’t miss out on an attraction because the return time is after I’m planning to leave, or disappears entirely because all reservations are taken.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!!!! You’ve been a life saver!!!
Great video... question. Book latest time slot always? Or just in the morning.
We tend to always aim for whatever is furthest out, because it’ll only get further out the longer you wait. But you can always just do what works best for you.
That bit of advice is for the strategy of using up every LL in a day, to get the most out of the service.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you, super helpful. We are headed out there this weekend
So when it says 15 minute wait and you can select a time of right now do you pass all those people? Or do you wait about the same amount of time?
Hi! I have a question---the Genie+ has Photo pass with it, what is the difference between that and the Memory Maker I have already purchased?
Do you need to purchase two different ones or can you put two people on one?
With your magic bands… does each person need to use their magic band per ride or just one person?
Thank you, Traver and Amy. This was really helpful to watch. We’re going to Disneyland/California Adventure in early February. The last time we went was 2019 so a lot has changed! I have some questions… Can you book individual lighting lanes (for Rise of the Resistance or Radiator Springs Racers) and a LL at the same time? Also, what time of day would be the best time to book an individual lightning lane? We’re planning on one day for each park and wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to ride those rides. Thank you!
Yes! You can book an ILL whenever. They aren’t connected to the regular Genie+ service in any way.
As to when to book, it’s mostly just when you have time to fit it in your schedule.
If it’s like WDW, it’ll let you choose the return time when you buy it.
For Tron, I booked it at night because it’s a partially outdoor rollercoaster with amazing night effects.
But Rise is indoors and is unaffected by time.
Radiator Springs is partially outdoors, but again really just comes down to when you want to ride it and when it fits in your schedule.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you for taking the time to answer. That’s helpful to know. One more question… do ILL passes tend to sell out? Thanks again!
@@amyheyseart Yes, they can/will. I don’t know how fast.
@@amyheyseart Rise isn’t currently available. So it sold out today. But again, when I don’t know.
Great video! We're going to Disneyland tomorrow and now I might be able to use our Genie Plus lol. How do I create a "Party" in the app? Do I have to be in the park to do that?
You need to link the ticket of every person in your group to a single device. Just add them to your account through the ticket tab in the app.
And then on the day of, every person that is scanned into the park will be eligible to add to your party.
If you have a group member that stayed back at the hotel, they will be ineligible to get a lightning lane until they finally scan into the park. And then you’ll be able to add them.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Thank you so much!! Okay, I think I'm ready to try it out!
You should also explain individual lighting lane attractions.
I do in my other video that I referenced both at the beginning and end. This was just a Genie+ tutorial, and ILLs are not a part of Genie+.
This was not meant to be an all inclusive guide. But simply a “How-to” for booking and working your way around that section of the app.
I’d love to see a 2024 series - like a perfect day - using genie, filler rides, shows, and food. Maximizing your vacation time in each park. 😊
We are coming this summer for the first time and it might be our only trip for awhile.
I’ll have a few videos out like this throughout the year. Doing a full day’s vlog is kind of hard because of my business model. I have to film at least 3 videos per visit because of how far away we live (90-100 minute drive one way).
But the “perfect day” has long been on my list. It might just be modified to something like “here’s a 2-3 hour window in the afternoon where you can go see a show, parade, or rest at your hotel. I’ve got some other stuff to do, but we will reconnect with you at 4 PM”
Thank you! I appreciate all that you do put out! 😊
Fantastic video again! So assuming we didn't rope drop but got in maybe 1 hour after open, would the strategy be to still grab the furthest out rides first (which tend to be most popular) such as Indy, Runaway, Haunted, SpaceMtn, etc. Very often those can be over 2 hours out even early in the day. And then after making sure to get those booked would you then do the ones later in the day that are easier to get at a closer time (ToyStory, StarTours, etc) but will probably have a longish standby wait? Hope that makes sense, but basically do you still do the far out LLs first then hit all the closer ones later even without ropedrop? Thanks!
Once rides extend past the two hour rule, you can really do them in whatever order.
But yeah, I would do them first even if it engages the two hours, because they’re only going to get further out and eventually run out.
Buzz, Autopia, small world, Star Tours, etc will almost always be available immediately. So you can grab those later in the day.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Awesome, thanks. Yeah, we missed Indy last visit because we put it off too long and it ran out of LLs sometime in the afternoon. Will give your advice a try next time. Now if I could just get my slow-rising family up earlier!
I’m still
Confused on the 2 hr wait time. And you can only book 1 LL at a time you cannot book multiple?
How does lightening lane work for a toddler without a ticket? If we did little mermaid, my two year old would just be able to just come on right?
I hate how we kinda have to be plastered on our phones to make the most of our experiences in the park. but this video was extremely helpful with the walkthrough process, including information how to scan in with your phone
Can you use one of the old magic bands to scan or does it have to be a magic band plus? Thanks!
It has to be an MB+. Disneyland is not equipped for the earlier bands.
Thank you! If I buy an ILL for ROTR and it's down when I'm supposed to use it, do you know if it becomes a Multi Experience pass that I can use on ROTR at any time that day?
That is correct. The MEP from Rise will allow you to ride Rise later that day.
Other MEPs aren’t as powerful, so the only ones that work with Rise, to my knowledge, are from Rise or Radiator Springs Racers.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Thank you!
Great video -are you guys doing disneyworld this year? If so would be great if you share your perspective
Yes! We are going May 16th to May 25th.
What specifically were you looking for?
I’m going may 12-17; looking at early entry strategies and such. Disneyland I’m pretty good on what rides to hot and when. Disneyworld and associated parks I have to research…
@@Lordkurt-kd5td Ahh, well we aren’t going until May 16-25
But here’s my WDW playlist of past videos: Walt Disney World, Florida
ua-cam.com/play/PL_0Qje8SjlSCiqbBEpHdg6SrRzV--5iCp.html
@@Lordkurt-kd5td The newest videos got cut short due to lack of interest (it was hurting the channel overall so I stopped) so I don’t have every park, but our 2022 and 2021 vacation vlogs are in there, too.
Question - Are you only able to book one ride with lightening lane at a time and then like you said book the next one when you signed in for the ride? Or are you able to book another one while waiting for one by editing your experience? Or when you pick the new one it cancels the other one you were waiting for?
You can book another when you’ve used the current one or after 2 hours have elapsed, whichever comes first. For example: if I book a 9am Indiana Jones lightning lane at 8am. I can book another after I have scanned into that ride. However, if it’s for example 10am and you can’t book Indiana Jones until 2pm, then you have to wait 2 hours to book your next lightning lane.
In the past, you could use a multi experience pass on rides that do not have lightning lane. As my friend just discovered today, it appears you can no longer do this. He got a MEP from roger rabbit and attempted to use it on Alice and Nemo but was unsuccessful. The cast also seemed to be confused about this because they are used to it working. Do you know anything about this recent change?
I'm not aware of this, no. But I do know that MEPs are not all created equal. You need to check and see the full list of attractions the MEP works on. Alice is a higher tier attraction, so it's possible that Roger's isn't high enough to allow Alice. Nemo on the other hand is a little odd, because that's a pretty low end ride. I'd be curious to see what attractions appear on the list, but only an individual with an MEP can check this. And I haven't gotten one in awhile. The last two times I bought Genie+ we just never encountered one.
So I have a question for you! I was just there and I had a party of 4. My daughter loves the coasters and my son doesn't. A couple of times I booked a lightning lane for just her and I to ride a coaster, and my son amd husband went on a standby line for something else. Would I have been allowed to book a separate lightning lane for the other two people in my party for a different attraction as long as they were not on our same reservation? I didn't think about until now.
Yes. You can uncheck who you are booking LLs for. And could book two separate rides at the same time. But if you and your daughter wanted to ride that one later, your husband and son would have already used up their LL for the day and wouldn’t be able to ride when you do. So you’d have to pick rides that both parties agree not to ride.
When you refresh to try to get a better time, can you select one first and then refresh or do you have to do this before booking and risk that it gets pushed out even further?
You can absolutely book one first. You should book the first time you can get, then go back to the reservation and choose "Modify" and from there you can do the refresh trick to look for a better one.
Thank you for the detailed explanation! You have Darth Vader as your Disney icon, are you on the Dark Side?
Of course! We have cookies. 🍪 😂
13:44 did they phase out the older magic bands? I got one in 2021 but they have bigger ones now
Disneyland never had the older ones. We’ve only had MagicBand+. MagicBand2 still works at WDW, but those do NOT work at Disneyland, only plusses.
You mentioned something about picking the ones the run out the fasted what does that mean
When you look at reservation times, several will be available right away, and others will be an hour or two out. The later in the day it gets, that hour or two becomes 4-5 hours. And eventually they’ll run out entirely.
So my general strategy with Genie+ is to pick the furthest out ride, and book that as my first lightning lane. Then when I need to book another, I’ll pick the next furthest out.
This way, I get all the big rides done earlier when I only have to wait an hour or so. Instead of later, when they’re all longer than 2 hours. Because that would engage the 2 hour rule.
The 2 hour rule is in regard to when you can book your next lightning lane. You can book another one when either you’ve used the first one, or 2 hours passes. If you are always engaging the 2 hour rule, your ability to use Genie+ is reduced. That’s how some people only end up riding 4-5 rides with it.
But every time we use Genie+, we get all 11-12 attractions done in a day with the way we organize things.
If you target the most popular rides first, you’ll eventually get to the point where you have 4-5 rides left and they’re all available immediately, which means you can choose to ride them whenever you want and worrying about getting a Lightning lane is no longer an issue.
As a WDW local this was so helpful! It works so differently here. Could you do the same video for DCA?
We will have two upcoming Challenge videos where we attempt to do the whole park in a single day using Genie+
Probably sometime in February.
One park per video. Two separate visits.
@@SoCalDisneyDad great! My first trip to Disneyland is at the beginning of February and I’ve been watching all your vids to prepare :)
@@cristinacavarretta7037 Then it’s unlikely we will have those videos out before your visit, unfortunately. But I’m sure you’re going to have an awesome time all the same.
If I have four people in my party and we all have genie plus only two want to ride the ride is this possible? Can the same people use the unused lighting lane to ride the ride a second time?
Yes to both questions. But if the group of 2 are only going to ride once, you need to be sure to only book those two individuals. Because the other two won’t be able to book a new pass until you’ve cleared the previous one, waited 2 hours, or cancelled the LL on the unused tickets.
The ride twice thing really only works in your situation as they can just scan the other two tickets for the second time. But if you have a differing number of riders to waiters, then it won’t work of course. But in a 2 and 2 situation it can. Yes.
We rope drop our favorites early in am. Then we don’t use lightning lane till around 10 or so then ride our fav again!when we talked with cast member chats and they said it was 90 mins in between time?🤷♀️ we did 90 mins and it worked. Maybe it has changed?
It’s always been 2 hours. 🤷🏻♂️ So I’m not sure where the 90 minutes comes from. Or how it worked?
As you can see when we showed it, we booked at 9 AM and it said we couldn’t book another until 11 AM. Or when we used the first one of course.
Genie+ is definitely a waste to use first thing in the AM. Holding off until 10 AM could be a decent strategy.
In our case, that would have meant we couldn’t book MMRR until 9:50ish, and I think it would have been a little too far out.
I’m happy with what we did, even if the Indiana Jones was a bit of a waste. We at least held off until 9 instead of using it at 8:05 like we saw some people doing at Space when it was completely unnecessary.
This video was super helpful with how to use genie+!! If you don’t have a magic band do you just scan your phone? And do you need to scan for each person in your party redeeming the genie + for each ride? And if so do you just scan each persons ticket!? Thanks!!
Yes, you just use your phone, and yes, unfortunately, you have to scan each ticket which means “scan, withdraw, swipe, scan, withdraw, swipe, etc” until all tickets are scanned.
Thanks alot!! Not sure what the withdraw means but I’m sure it will make sense when I’m there! Haha
@@Tanyanicm I only meant that you have to stick the phone in the slot on the pole to scan your ticket. It’s not like WDW where you can put the phone up to the round circle. You use the slot below the circle.
Oh I get what your saying! Thanks so much!
Hello! I’m visiting both Disneyland and California adventure in one day with genie+ for the first time, which park would you recommend we rope drop/ book genie+ for first? Thank you (-:
I’d go to Disneyland first. Here is a day we did both parks with Genie+. It’s a bit old, but most, if not all, of the advice should still be valid and it’ll give you a good idea of what we accomplished.
Is Genie+ Worth It at Disneyland? Tips You NEED TO KNOW in 2022
ua-cam.com/video/DyN-dnbgyjs/v-deo.html
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you!
Does Disney WiFi have a Login page? Or is it completely open without prompts? Just wondering for Apple Watches.
It does open a login page that requires a “I understand” checkbox toggle.
13:41 can both kids scan their magic bands here since they’d both like to do it?
Yes! You just need to connect their MagicBands to their individual tickets in the Disneyland app.
Then each person scans their own band to activate the lightning lane.
Do you ever go by what you are near? I feel like every time I get lightning lane, I walk a lot more.
I tend to use strategy as opposed to convenience.
What do I mean?
I could pick a lightning lane for a ride that’s near me because it’s available immediately, but that ride may only have a 5 minute standby, so I’m wasting the lightning lane using it now.
I also know that it’s likely to remain available immediately all day, so it’s not a high priority.
I’d rather schedule a lightning lane that I know is available within 60-90 minutes now, but an hour from now might be 2 1/2 hours or more out.
I do my very best not to engage the 2 hour rule if at all possible.
Here’s a video where I used Genie+ to its fullest in an attempt to ride every ride at Disneyland in a single day:
Can We Ride EVERY RIDE at Disneyland in ONE DAY!?
ua-cam.com/video/lYasEOhG6no/v-deo.html
Does it require a lot of back and forth? Absolutely.
But it’s better than hopping in line for a ride that’s posted at 60 minutes now, but will only be 20 minutes later. Because that’s 40 minutes wasted. All because we didn’t want to walk 5 minutes away to another ride.
I’m generally against the land-by-land method as it’s more often than not a bigger waste of time. You just waste the time standing in line instead of walking around.
Can you have one magic band per family and all of your family get scanned when you hit it one time? Or does each person need a magic band? (I hope that question makes sense)
Each person needs a magic band in order to use the MB for scanning. Otherwise, you'll have to use the barcode on your ticket on your phone.
Would love a DCA rope drop/ genie tip video! If you haven’t created that already
I have not, but we have two more days planned where we will buy Genie+, so hopefully I can do when within the next month sometime.
I’m just not sure which visit right this minute.
@@SoCalDisneyDad you rock!! Love your content 🤗
Do you know if you can link people’s genie+ to your app whose ticket you didn’t purchase? Wondering if it would mess things up to have to both be booking it for the same times on different phones
You can link anyone’s ticket provided they give you the ticket number or barcode.
You don’t have to have purchased it to add it to your account.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you! Appreciate all of your help and wonderful videos 😊
Hi from Germany! I have a question, hope someone can answer me. We have magic bands from WDW, can we use them in California too?
Only if they are MagicBand+. The variety that recharges and lights up.
You just add it to the Disneyland App like you did for WDW.
If it’s a MagicBand 2 (still being sold at WDW, even though the large majority are now Plusses), then it won’t work. This is the variety they’ve been using for many years.
MagicBand+ I think is new within the last 1-2 years.
Do they still have does paper Disneyland maps they used to have??
Yes. They have paper maps at the entrance of both parks in more than a dozen languages.
Have you all tried doing genie+ with both parks in one day?? Seemed like you got a lot done early in the morning can you then hop over and get everything one at CA in one day also
Yes, the Genie+ challenge video (in description and also one of the options in the end screen of this video) is an attempt at both parks in one day.
We’re only there two days in May so hoping to stack Genie+ with my son’s DAS 😇😅 i’ve only ever been to Disneyland Paris so not dealt with bands… everyone has to scan their own right? Probably a stupid question!
Yes! Correct. Band or phone, everyone has to scan their own ticket.
So if you have 5 people in your group, and you have phones only, you’ve got to scan one at a time, swiping each ticket and scanning each one.
MagicBands are definitely quicker.
you are the goat
Thank you for showing how and where to scan into LL.
We won’t have magic bands. What do I scan on my phone when scanning into LL? the barcode on my park ticket? If yes, could I just print out the barcode to scan for easy access?
It is your ticket barcode. Yes. From the app. You could try printing it out, but it would need to be the size and shape of your phone because the intent is for you to slide your phone in the slot I showed.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do anything other than putting their phone in the slot. But it is annoying to have to get your phone out, open your tickets, and then do one at a time for the whole party.
That’s where MagicBands are really helpful. But they are expensive if you’re only going for a day and that’s your sole use for them.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you so much! I’m now considering Magic bands. Does everyone in the party have to have one or can you link a family of 4 to 1 band?
@@KatherineMarr-jo9qz Each band is connected to a single ticket. So each person would need their own band.
I have a question i have a 1 year old if im going on lightning lane i have genie for me and my wife will they stop us because my daughter even though shes going to lap sit
Only if she isn’t tall enough.
The only lightning lanes with no height requirement are:
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Pirates of the Caribbean
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
That’s it.
The rest of the rides on Genie+ will require one adult to sit out with your daughter and then you’d switch.
I know it's unlikely I'll get a reply because this is an older video. But any thoughts on buying Genie+ and saving it for the evening? I'm considering doing that with my husband after my kids go back to the hotel at 7pm ish and are being babysat by a family member.
Happy to reply. What you’re describing is something called stacking. It can be done, but it’s harder here than at Walt Disney World.
Times wont reach the post-7 PM window until around 2-3 PM in the afternoon. So at most you’ll be able to stack 3 rides for later in the evening.
Whereas if you’re using it all day, you could reasonably get most if not all of the Lightning Lane rides done throughout the day.
You can still save the big ones for later if you want. When you go back to the hotel for an afternoon break (recommended, especially with kids), that’s the time to start looking at stacking, since you won’t be in the park to use the LLs anyway.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you!
Me and little sister are coming to Disneyland in mid April from Texas for the first time and I was wondering if i can buy me and her both genie+ for both of us to use
Yes, so long as her ticket is linked to your account, you can purchase it for both and manage both on your device.
@@SoCalDisneyDad ok thank u
Hi,
If I get the Genie+ and reserve a lightning lane for an attraction. Do I still get the full queue experience of seeing all the videos and fun stuff that normally happen?
I’ve never been to a Disney park and wasn’t sure about this.
It’s about 50/50. Some rides, yes. Some rides, no. But it’s more yes than no. If that makes sense?
Only a few of the larger rides actually have you skip the queue entirely, like Mickey and Minnie’s, and Rise of the Resistance (provided you buy an Individual Lightning Lane).
On most of the others, the Lightning Lane parallels the standby and it’s just got fewer people in it.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Ah ok, that makes total sense. Thank you for the insight on this. I’ve been watching your videos for planning my upcoming trip and they’ve been very informative and a big help. Thank you again!
Is it a pain to use your phone to scan in? Are magic bands worth the expense for a short trip?
It’s an annoyance depending on the amount of people in your party. Like if you have 8 people, it’s a lot to scan on your phone.
But that’s also expensive for MagicBands too.
They work from trip to trip. I’ve had the same MagicBand for a year, and I’ve used it at Disneyland, Disney World, and Aulani. I heard it also works or will soon work on Cruises too.
So you would just need to ask yourself how often to you to any of those places and decide if you’d get use out of it.
It is fun watching it light up on rides, and dance in time to the music at nighttime spectaculars like World of Color, too.
We are buying a new one for each of us when we got to WDW in May as sort of a “vacation present”.
We’ve always done this (bought new MagicBands every trip), but now what we buy at WDW also works here. So it’s an added bonus.
Does genie sale out certain time. Planing going this weekend
I’ve never seen it sell out, but they will run out of lightning lanes for certain attractions.
It’s generally better to get in early.
Hypothetically, if you don’t get into the park until 1 PM, then most of the popular attractions will be too far out and you’ll be stuck waiting 2 hours for your next selection, and that’s 2 more hours for those popular attractions to push even further out, potentially running out in the process.
@@SoCalDisneyDad Thank you appreciate your help 🙂
Hello! We go to WDW all the time, but DL not so often. Can we use our same Magic Band Plus at DL ?
Yes! MB+ is compatible with Disneyland. You won't be able to use any of the old ones, though, the MB2 or earlier. The kind that don't work are the kind without the battery charger and lights, etc.
But the MB Plusses do work here, too.
Thank you!! °o°
Question: the new scenes for Star Tours...would they still have multiple options of how your ride can go? Like a different beginning, middle and end for endless combinations? (not quite endless but you know what I mean). I ask because they had "new scenes" when we went in 2019 and my husband and I rode twice and both times, we had the exact same 3 scenes. Was that a coincidence or can it be like that with new scenes? I hope that makes sense.
That’s a tough one, because when they are so new, everyone is going to want to see them, and if it’s fully random, then you might not get the new scenes at all. Which would be disappointing. So my guess is that they are set it stone for the first month or so. Maybe even the full season of the force time. And then after that they’d just become part of the random rotation.
@@SoCalDisneyDad ok thanks!
Is both Amy and yours magic band+ connected to the same Disneyland app on the same phone? Can you do that?
Also is there a reason to modify a lightening lane booking versus just canceling it?
To MagicBand’s, yes, I have them all connected to a single account. But each band is registered to a separate ticket. I have all the tickets linked to my account.
To the modification, yes, modify is better. Because if you are just trying to get a better time, canceling and then trying to book a new one might result in you failing to acquire the new time, and ALSO losing your previous time slot.
There is never a reason to use the cancel button, really at all, with one exception. And that’s that you are leaving for several hours and no current offerings go out far enough for when you’ll be back, and you don’t want to hang around until your current one becomes available, you’d just cancel so you can try again later.
Otherwise, there really is no reason to use cancel. Even if you’re switching to a totally different ride.
Quick question bro…so I’m going to Disneyland in a week and bought 2 genie pluses for both days. Can I go into my genie and do this now or is it too early?
You can try. But you might need to wait until the day before or the morning of to setup your Genie Day.
@@SoCalDisneyDadTy! I’ve watched probably 20 of your videos on restaurants, rides, genie +, etc in the last day
I’m going to visit Disneyland alone on April 9th. Is it worth buying Genie+ or can I make the most of the park using Single Rider lines?
There are only 3 single rider lines at Disneyland. DCA has most of them. So if you aren’t going to DCA, I would say Genie+ would be helpful. Especially for a solo rider as it’s not like you have to afford it for 5 people.
Single rider will still be helpful if, say, you want to ride Matterhorn or Space Mountain twice.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thank you! This is going to be my very first time at a Disney park and I’m loving getting all the tips from your channel!
So is the genie service for shows only? Not rides?
Genie+ works on rides only, at Disneyland.
At WDW in Florida, you can use it for shows and even character meet and greets as well as rides. But at Disneyland in California, it is rides only.
Just wondering, why do you buy a lightning lane so far out, when you could get one for 8, use it, and then immediately get another one for 8:50. It’s not like you have a limited number, and you could potentially save 5-10 mins getting that 8am lightning lane to allow for even more standby waiting.
Because 5-10 minutes could mean 20-30 minutes of LL get picked up. So those popular attractions continue to book further and further out, and not engaging the two hour rule is a bigger priority for us.
Those rides that are available immediately are generally available immediately all day long. So while I could theoretically book Buzz at 8 and use it right away, I can do the same at 4 PM as well, but Indiana Jones won’t always be 45-60 minutes out, before long it’s 3-4 hours out.
@@SoCalDisneyDad thanks, I see!! 👍🏻👍🏻
Do you need to be in the park to buy genie +? I thought we could purchase them at midnight ?
That’s WDW. At Disneyland, all party members must be scanned into the park. And there is no early lightning lane you can grab while back at the hotel still. You can’t book anything until everyone is scanned in and have purchased Genie+
I really wanna buy a casual black Disney hoodie and the Disney store website doesn’t have anything I’m looking for. I hope when I go, they’ll have more options to choose from since I’m planning on freezing myself with just a simple Mickey shirt 😂
Disney doesn’t really do black. But who knows? You might find something.
I think I’m filming a Merch Guide this weekend for 2024. So I’ll be perusing all the stores and showing you what they have. I’ll make a point of looking at the hoodies/sweatshirts for you.
Video will be out next week sometime probably.
@@SoCalDisneyDad okay thank you😄 I’m planning on going to California Adventure on feb.3