The Pros and Cons of Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lanes 

What is Disney Genie+?

Disney’s new platform in the MyDisneyExperience app has three tiers. Disney Genie+ is a paid service that allows guests to select Lightning Lane passes to avoid the long standby lines at certain attractions in each park. Check out the chart below for more details about each tier!

Disney Genie	Free	This feature allows you to use this portion of the MyDisneyExperience app to see projected wait times. You can fill out a survey in the morning for the park you are going to with your interests and it will customize an itinerary based on waits.
Disney Genie+	Subject to surge pricing per day.Between $15-$29 per person, per day.	This feature allows you to use everything mentioned below above, as well as  get Lightning Lane passes to skip the long line for all except 1 ride in each park.
Individual Attraction Selections	Subject to surge pricing per day.Between $7-$15 per person, per attraction.	This feature allows you to use the free Genie portion of the app and allows you to purchase a Lightning Lane for the 1 ride that is not included in Genie+. It changes based on new rides and popularity of rides.

How does Disney Genie+ work?

Disney Genie+ is housed in the MyDisneyExperience app. Each day at 7:00 am, guests who purchase Disney Genie+ can choose their first Lightning Lane pass. Lightning Lane passes are available for a 1-hour window. Once you arrive at the ride during your time window, you will scan your receipt. Your pass will sync with whichever method you use to enter the park at the beginning of your day. This can be done using your MagicBand, or if you don’t have MagicBands, your pass will be available in your app. 

Guests can only choose one (1) Lightning Lane at a time. Once you have scanned into the ride during your time window, you can begin looking for and reserving your next Lightning Lane pass. It is important to note that some rides have two scan-in points in the queue, so make sure you are all the way through before you begin looking for your next pass.  

Throughout the day, guests can continue to look back to their “Tip Board” and choose additional Lightning Lane passes. 

Lightning Lanes

What are Lightning Lanes?

Lighting Lane is the new term for FastPass. It is the same concept: get a “Lightning Lane” pass and get in a shorter and faster line. A Lightning Lane is an alternate lane in the ride queue that allows guests to skip past the regular standby line. Guests in this lane often receive priority when boarding ride vehicles. Each person will need to scan in to confirm your pass as you enter each ride. 

When are Lightning Lane purchases worth it?

You can get the most out of your Lightning Lane purchase in several ways.

1. On busy park days: Disney World has peak seasons where crowds can become huge, and wait times for rides can become extremely long. Popular rides can rack up wait times of over 2 hours, and while you may be willing to wait that long, you may not experience as much as you’d like during your park day. If you plan to attend Disney World during these peak seasons (holidays, RunDisney weekends, EPCOT festivals, as well as school holidays and summer break), Lightning Lanes can be very helpful. 
2. You have specific rides you’d like to ride: Traveling with small children or will specific goals in mind for your park day? Lightning Lanes can make sure you are guaranteed to get on the rides you’d like early in your park day and allow you to spend time back at the hotel or in another park. When traveling with children, it may not be possible to spend a long time in line for a ride (like Peter Pan’s Flight in Magic Kingdom, which usually has an average wait time of 60 minutes). A Lightning Lane pass will give you the option of riding those rides as soon as possible and will allow you to avoid standing around in line. 
3. To optimize a park day: Only visiting a park for one day? Lightning Lanes will allow you to get on those “must do” rides and reduce some stress of wasting time while waiting in lines. Disney World’s website says that, on average, a guest can expect to ride 2-3 rides using the Genie+ service, but in practice, it is often many more, especially if you start out early in the day. 
4. When visiting certain parks: Magic Kingdom is the park where you will get the most “bang for your buck” with Lightning Lanes. Magic Kingdom has 23 rides, whereas Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom range between 8-10 rides. That fact alone shows that you will benefit most from purchasing Disney Genie+ when you are in Magic Kingdom because that provides so many options for using a Lightning Lane. Hollywood Studios has high-priority rides that can rack up long wait times, like Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If you are able to bypass those lines, it opens up options for shows or even getting to ride them twice. EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom have fewer rides, and many of them do not have long wait times. The additional experiences at those parks sometimes outweigh the priority to even ride rollercoasters and other attractions. If you plan to focus on food in EPCOT or seeing the animals in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it may not be worth the price for those park days. 

Pros and Cons 

The Pros: 

1. Short Wait Times:  The biggest “pro” for Genie+ is the opportunity to cut down the time you are waiting in line. Using Genie+ can significantly increase your time spent waiting and the number of rides you can ride in a day. Ultimately, most people’s goal is to ride as many rides as they’d like during their park day and the Lightning Lane system makes that possible. There are instances where you can walk right onto a ride when utilizing a Lightning Lane pass.If you are not spending cumulative hours in line for rides, it provides opportunities to explore the parks in ways you may not be able to otherwise. Each park has such unique elements they offer outside of their rides.Disney’s Animal Kingdom has walking trails highlighting many different animals and activities that encourage guests to learn more about worldwide conversation efforts. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios provide guests the opportunity to learn about Walt Disney and the history of the Disney Company. EPCOT’s World Showcase gives guests a chance to step into other countries and experience different cultures. 
2. Flexibility and Spontaneity: Genie+ gives guests the opportunity to be flexible and spontaneous during their day at the park. You are able to choose your next ride based on your mood in the moment, which is different from the previous FastPass system that required guests to choose rides months in advance.Disney Genie+ also has a new feature that allows guests to change the window of time they can get in the Lightning Lane. This gives guests the flexibility to change their schedule as the day progresses or if a better time pops up. Guests can also get Lightning Lane passes for multiple parks. If you plan to Park Hop (or visit multiple parks in one day) you can book Lightning Lanes for your next park after 2:00pm. Genie+ can be purchased at any time during the park day, so if you don’t have it when you arrive but find that the wait times are way longer than anticipated, you can purchase it from the app. Depending on the time it is purchased, you reduce the number of rides you may be able to get on that day, but if you think that money spent is equivalent to the time you’re saving in line, it can be worth it!
3. Exciting Extras: Along with the ability to bypass standby lines, Disney Genie+ offers guests additional services within their MyDisney Experience app. Guests have access to augmented reality lenses that can add fun images and effects to the photos you take throughout the park without the need for a Disney PhotoPass photographer. Guests also gain access to “Audio Tales,” which are fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories and information about Disney World and the parks. These perks add additional value to the service, especially if you’ve ridden all of the rides you were hoping to throughout the day!

The Cons:

1. Price: It is no secret that a Disney World trip can become expensive, and Disney Genie+ is another way to add to the final bill. In October 2022, Disney introduced surge, or variable, pricing for Genie+. This means that the price of Genie+ can increase or decrease depending on the day. The lowest price is $15 per person per day, but that can increase to more than $20 per person per day. If you are traveling alone or with a small group, this may not be a huge price increase, but if you are traveling with a large group, that can quickly add hundreds of dollars to the already pricey park ticket. 
2. Ride availability: One important element of Genie+ is that guests are able to obtain one Lightning Lane per ride each day. That means if you choose Lightning Lane for Slinky Dog Dash in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and you’d like to ride again, you will have to wait in the standby line the second time around. If you travel with people who want to repeat rides, Genie+ may not be worth the price since you’ll be waiting anyway. Rides can also run out of availability, and sometimes, with popular rides, that can happen in a matter of minutes. It can be disappointing to wake up at 7:00am on your vacation, only to not get a pass for the ride you’ve been excited about for months. 
3. There’s a learning curve: Overall, MyDisneyExperience and the Disney Genie service are simple to operate once you get the hang of it, but the Genie+ system definitely has a learning curve. It can be stressful to begin your first park day trying to navigate a new program in order to get onto rides faster. There are tons of videos and tutorials online, but this may not be something you want to try on your trip if you’re not tech-savvy. 
4. Screen time: Disney Genie+ increases your screen-time while in the park. Sometimes it can be difficult to disconnect from the real world (which is something that Walt Disney hoped people who do in the parks) when you are constantly on your phone. Since you have to choose your passes after each ride, you are often checking the app to see wait times and available time windows. 

Common Questions

Is it worth paying for Genie?

Purchasing Disney Genie+ can be worth it depending on the goals of your trip. Everyone’s ideal Disney World trip looks different, and your travel agent can always help you decide based on your specific goals! It is important to weigh your options and see if it is necessary to purchase in order to enjoy your day.

Does Genie+ ever sell out? 

The Disney Genie+ ticket add-on cannot sell out, but certain rides may “sell-out” or stop offering Lightning Lanes, especially as the day progresses. Make sure to prioritize your “must do” rides when selecting your first few Lightning Lane passes to avoid missing out on an open time window. 

What is the two-hour rule for Genie+? 

As the day progresses, the available time windows for certain rides will be further apart as availability decreases. If you have a Lightning Lane that is 2 hours+ away (ex. You make a Lightning Lane at 12:00pm for a ride at 3:00pm) you can make another selection 2 hours after (2:00pm). Disney Genie+ tell you when you try to select a pass when you can make another selection.

What rides are not included in Genie+? 

The rides not included in Genie+ (also called Individual Attraction Selections, as noted in the chart at the beginning of this blog) are subject to change. Currently, the rides that are not included in Disney Genie+ are: 

• Magic Kingdom – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Animal Kingdom – Avatar Flight of Passage
• Hollywood Studio – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance 
• EPCOT – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

_{Katie is so excited to be working with Unlocking the Magic Travel! She is a talented and experienced travel agent with a passion for helping people plan the perfect vacation. Her love for all things Disney started when she was a child visiting Disney World with her family and she believes all vacations deserve a bit of magic. She is well-versed in the ins and outs of the Walt Disney World theme park and can help her clients choose the best hotels, restaurants, and activities to make their trip truly magical.}