DISNEY 101: Virtual Queue vs Genie+ vs Individual Lightning Lane

As Walt Disney World park frequent travelers, there are a lot of things that we just take for granted: terminology, policies, procedures, and so forth. We regulars sometimes forget that many people (most people) visiting WDW don’t visit quite so often. They might even be on their first trip. For those people, there can be a steep learning curve when it comes to planning their trip. To help the newbies out there, I thought I’d start a new series of articles called “Disney 101”, which explains what some of these common things are in a (hopefully) clear way.

For my first edition of this series, I’ll start with explaining some of the different ways you can get in line for rides. Because there are so many different variations of this seemingly simple concept, I can understand why people mix up all of these different terms. You would think that it would be simple: get in line, wait for X minutes/hours/days, get on ride. But, of course, it isn’t!

What is a Virtual Queue?

There are a handful of rides that are so popular that you need to reserve a time just for the privilege of getting in the normal standby line. These rides have what is known as a “Virtual Queue”.

Disney generally has Virtual Queues for the newest, most popular rides. Then, if popularity starts to die down, they convert them over to having a regular standby line. As of the time this article is being written, there are two rides at WDW that have Virtual Queues: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Tron Lightcycle Run.

How Does the Virtual Queue Work?

At 7am ET each day, you can go into the My Disney Experience app and request to join the Virtual Queue. Of course, you must have a park reservation for that day in order to be eligible to join (I imagine this will change once park reservations go away).

Once you join, you will be assigned to a “boarding group”. Each boarding group gets a number from one to XXX.

Boarding groups are called in numerical order: lowest to highest. People with the lowest number boarding group will be called earliest in the day. Higher boarding groups will be called later in the day. The app will give you an approximate time for when you should expect your boarding group to be called. However, this is not a guarantee. On some days, they run ahead of schedule and you might be called earlier. On other days, they might be running behind schedule and you might get called later.

Once your boarding group is called, you will get a “push notification” on your mobile device. At this point, you have one hour to return to the ride. Once you arrive, you enter via the standby line. Be aware that you don’t get on the ride immediately upon entry. You often have to wait up to an hour (or more) in line. You can think of it as a virtual line to join the real line!

If you miss out on getting a boarding group at 7am, don’t despair. You may have another opportunity to join a boarding group at 1pm if you have entered the park. Of course, these boarding groups are likely to be much later in the day, so be prepared!

What is a Lightning Lane?

A Lightning Lane is a separate line at select WDW attractions that allow you quicker access to the ride. Because only a limited number of people are allowed to enter the Lightning Lane, it moves much faster than the regular standby line.

There are several ways that you can get access to the Lightning Lane

1. By reserving a Lightning Lane return time through Genie+, available for most rides (more on that later)
2. By purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane return time, available for select rides (more on that later)
3. By reserving a Disability Access Service return time
4. Through a “rider swap”

I’ll talk about methods #1 and #2 later in this article. I’ve already written several articles on the Disability Access Service, so you can refer to them for more information on method #3.

Method #4, rider swap, is useful for families that have children who are unable or unwilling to ride a particular attraction. For instance, you might have a child that doesn’t meet the height requirements.

In a nutshell, parent #1 enters through the standby line while parent #2 waits outside with the non-rider. Then when parent #1 is done, parent #2 enters through the Lightning Lane. The exact logistics vary by ride so if you are interested in this, my advice is to ask a Cast Member at the ride in question.

To enter the Lightning Lane, scan your MagicBand or ticket at the entrance marked “Lightning Lane”. Disney IT will validate that you are eligible to enter by flashing the scanner green. At this point, you are good to go.

What is Genie+

Genie+ is a paid service that allows you to reserve a Lightning Lane return time for select rides at Walt Disney World. If you purchase this service, you have the opportunity to book a one hour return window for participating attractions. When your return window “opens”, go to the Lightning Lane entrance, scan in, and enter the line.

You can purchase Genie+ after midnight on the day of your visit. Then starting at 7am, you can book your first Lightning Lane reservation. You can book another one every two hours or after you have scanned into your previous reservation, whichever comes first.

I should note that Lightning Lane reservations for a particular ride are not unlimited. For popular rides, they may run out early in the day. Therefore, you need to reserve the most in-demand ones as soon as you can.

Also, note that you can only reserve a Lightning Lane with Genie+ for a particular ride once per day. You can’t just keep booking the same ride over and over again, no matter how much you love that attraction!

Other than the above time and capacity limitations, you can use Genie+ as much as you can for that one purchase price.

I did a separate article on Genie+ so feel free to check it out for a more complete treatment of this subject.

Genie+ can be used to reserve a Lightning Lane return time at all but the most popular rides. For those select rides, you need to use an Individual Lightning Lane.

What is an Individual Lightning Lane?

Certain rides are so popular that Disney makes you purchase Lightning Lane access for just that one ride only. Disney calls this an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL for short) because you get access to the ride through an individual purchase, rather than as part of your Genie+ purchase.

Currently, an Individual Lightning Lane is required for accessing the Lightning Lane at the following attractions:

• Magic Kingdom: Tron Lightcycle Run, Seven Dwarves Mine Train
• Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind
• Animal Kingdom: Flight of Passage
• Hollywood Studios: Rise of the Resistance

You might be wondering why one would want to purchase an ILL for Tron or Cosmic Rewind. Why not just get into the virtual queue? There are two reasons. First, the wait time for these rides once you get in line is a lot less with an ILL since you are entering through the Lightning Lane. Second, you can only enter the virtual queue once per day. Therefore, if you want to ride twice, you will need to purchase an ILL for that second time through.

ILL’s work very similar to Genie+ return times. You get a one hour return window. When your time comes, you scan in at the Lightning Lane entrance and you are good to go. Also similar to Genie+, you can only purchase an ILL once per ride per day.

Resort guests can purchase an ILL starting at 7am. All others can start purchasing when the park opens. In both cases, you don’t need to be physically IN the parks to buy an ILL.

Summary

I put together this table which summarizes all of these different terms:

One key point to remember. Lightning Lane refers to the line that you use to bypass the regular standby line. Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes are two ways to access the Lightning Lane.

Hopefully I was able to help clear up some of this line-based terminology for you. If you have questions or other Disney 101 ideas, please leave us a comment! As always, we’d love to hear from you!

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