It’s finally happening, folks! The one thing we’ve all been waiting for with bated breath – the ability to modify our Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations without needing to cancel and rebook. According to Scott Gustin, the paid line skipping service will soon allow Disney World and Disneyland guests to edit their Lightning Lane reservations. That’s right, no more frantically searching for a new time while simultaneously praying that it will still be there by the time you try to rebook.

The ability to modify Lightning Lane reservations has been a feature Disney fans have been asking for since Genie+ debuted at the parks. The change is coming to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland “in the next week or so,” and will be available when the app is updated (for both iOS and Android users).

Why is this such a big deal?

Update Dec 9, 2022 – Well, that was quicker than expected. The Lightning Lane modifications are now live in the My Disney Experience app and Disneyland app (must update to version 7.19).

What Lightning Lane Modifications Enables

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure - Disney World Lighting Lane Attraction - Genie Plus Guide
Previously, if you had a Lightning Lane reservation through Genie+, you could not modify it. If you wanted to select a new ride or a new time, you had to cancel your current reservation. For certain low-demand rides like Spaceship Earth or Living with the Land, that would be fine, as cancelling your reservation was low risk. It was very likely that you’d be able to rebook those rides with a new time.

However, if you have a Slinky Dog Dash or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Lightning Lane, you wouldn’t want to cancel those reservations, as rebooking them was almost impossible with the old system. Let’s say that you booked a Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane reservation for 8 pm, which is later than you wanted. While using the My Disney Experience app during your Hollywood Studios visit, you notice that Slinky Dog miraculously has a 12 pm Lightning Lane available. With the current system, there’s no way for you to book that new time, as you can only have one Lightning Lane reservation per attraction. In the time that it would take you to cancel your 8 pm Slinky Dog reservation, the 12 pm reservation would certainly be gone.

Even worse, you would almost certainly lose your original reservation, as by the time you try to book it again, someone else would have grabbed it. As the saying goes, in the game of Genie+, you win or you end up using Lightning Lane for Journey Into Imagination. (Game of Thrones references are cool again now thanks to House of the Dragon, right?)

However, that scenario is now much improved with the new Genie+ Lightning Lane modifications. You can simply press a button to modify your reservation, which will show you a list of the currently available attractions and times. If you don’t see a new time or ride you want, you can cancel the modification without losing your original reservation.

What can you modify? Not only can you change attraction or your reservation time, you’ll also be able to modify your party size.

Now, before you start getting too excited, there are a few things to keep in mind. First and foremost, this change only applies to Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations. Individual Lightning Lane reservations cannot be modified at this time.

Secondly, and this is a big one, you can only modify your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation to another Genie+ Lightning Lane attraction at the same park where the original reservation was made. So if you’ve got a reservation for Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom and want to switch to a different attraction at the same park like Pirates of the Caribbean, you’re good to go. But if you want to park hop and switch to a different park entirely, you’ll need to cancel your original reservation and book a new one.

And what about the 120-minute rule, you ask? “Modifications will not reset the timer. All existing rules will still apply,” according to Gustin.

How to make Genie+ Lightning Lane modifications

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway - Disney World Lighting Lane Attraction - Genie Plus Guide

With the My Disney Experience app and Disneyland updated to version 7.19 or later, you will notice an ellipsis (“…”) on your Genie+ Lightning Lane selection. To modify your reservation, simply tap the ellipsis and select “Modify Plan.” This will bring up a list of available Genie+ Lightning Lane times/attractions at the same park, allowing you to choose a new attraction and time for your reservation. Once you’ve made your selection, your reservation will be updated accordingly. It’s that easy!

We’ll be updating our Guide 2 Disney Genie to reflect these changes.

Wait, what is Genie+ and Lightning Lane?

Lightning Lane at Disney World - Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at EPCOT - Guide 2 Disney Genie

Lightning Lane is a new name for the FastPass line at Disney World and Disneyland. Guests using the Lighting Lane will experience a shorter wait time for certain attractions. To access the Lightning Lane, guests can purchase Genie+, a paid add-on for their ticket, which allows one-at-a-time access to popular rides like Space Mountain and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. For a full breakdown, check out our Disney Genie+ and Lighting Lane Explainer.

So there you have it, folks. The ability to modify your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations is here, and it’s a game changer. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy planning!