When you are ready to enjoy your Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort vacation, you’ve likely poured your heart and soul into the planning process along the way. Careful decisions have already been made regarding accommodation and dining, not to mention park reservations and transport. Still, some of the best-laid plans tend to go awry. We try to help prepare our DIS community for the unexpected because, inevitably, there will always be circumstances that are beyond your control. Knowing how to deal with them when they occur can be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a big change of plans. Today, we are tackling the nuances of Genie+ and, more specifically, what happens when your Lightning Lane return time rolls around and the attraction is temporarily unavailable.
It’s one of my least favorite phrases as a Disney Parks lover. ‘Temporarily Closed‘ is the term placed on a ride that is out of action for an unexpected reason. It could be anything from a mechanical breakdown to a breach in security or even one of those pesky, unsecured items falling into the ride. In any case, the result is the same: you often march dutifully across the park, ready to attend your reserved slot on time, only to be greeted by a series of cast members, supporting each other in the difficult task of turning away frustrated guests. (Just a quick side note that having just spent some time seeing basically every ride in Disneyland and California Adventure break down over the space of a few days, this has to be a very difficult job, usually handled remarkably well! )
What Happens if the Attraction Is Closed During My Lightning Lane Time?
So, what happens from here if you’ve reserved a Lightning Lane with your Genie+ pass? Within a few minutes, your reservation will change in the Disneyland or My Disney Experience (Disney World) app from a Lightning Lane to a Select Experience Pass. This pass will allow you to return when the ride is open and ride it at any time. Alternatively, there may also be some other rides that your pass can be used with, and in some cases, it can be used in any Lightning Lane in the park at any time during that day.
When Can I Book Another Lightning Lane?
The good news is that you don’t need to wait until you’ve used your converted pass before booking your next Genie+ attraction. As soon as you’ve seen that the pass is converted, you can make your next selection immediately. At one point, there were so many ride closures on my last visit to Disneyland that I had banked up two of the passes, as well as my upcoming Genie+ reservation, and managed to enjoy some E-Ticket rides back to back in a short space of time. I make a habit of checking my next Lightning Lane before I leave the current area so that I do not lose time in transit without realizing the ride is closed. This also allows you to make this next reservation ASAP, as there are often many others in the same situation looking to grab the next best option.
How Do I Use My Pass?
You can use your pass either with the app or by tapping your MagicBand. If there is no Genie+ reservation for the attraction you are visiting, the app will automatically redeem the Select Experience Pass as long as the attraction is on the list of rides you can visit.
How Do I Know Which Rides I Can Use It On?
As you click into the pass, there will be some text that invites you to learn what attractions you can use it with. As a general rule, it can’t be used with any rides that are in higher demand. For example, in Disneyland, you won’t be able to use your pass that originated from Pirates of the Caribbean to jump on Indiana Jones.
The best part is that using the Select Experience Pass does not count towards your 1-use-per-attraction Genie+ quota. So you can use that pass to return to Space Mountain as planned and then use your Genie+ to book an attraction-specific pass for the same ride later in the day.
What If My Pass Doesn’t Convert?
If your pass doesn’t convert and you are desperate to book your next Lightning Lane, head over to one of the Guest Relations umbrellas, where a cast member can do it manually for you. Be sure to give it a few minutes to work its magic before asking for help, as those few minutes of patience usually resolve the situation without needing to bother anyone. When you do bring it to a cast member, sometimes they will only be able to convert it to an Experience Redemption for that specific attraction, as you can see with my Big Thunder Mountain Railroad booking above.
Overall, it’s obvious to me that ride closures are becoming a more frequent inconvenience in daily park life at Disney, though, admittedly, they do a pretty good job at providing alternative experiences and compensating your time with the Select Experience Pass options.
Have you ever experienced one of these reservation conversions?
Zoë Wood is a travel writer from Sydney, Australia. Since her first visit to Disneyland at the age of 6, she has spent her years frequently visiting Disney Parks and traveling around the world.
Join Zoë as she lets you in on all the tips, tricks, anecdotes, and embarrassments that arise from her family adventures.
