Tips For Using Genie+ at Walt Disney World

Genie+, the paid service that replaced FastPass at Walt Disney World, allows guests to bypass long lines at select Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom attractions.

We will cover what Genie+ includes and tips for how to make the most of the Genie+ Disney World service!

  • As of June 27th, the pricing of Genie+ at Walt Disney World is by park. Disney’s sample pricing for that date was $27 per person for Multiple Parks, $27 per person for Magic Kingdom, $18 per person for EPCOT, $24 per person for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and $16 per person for Animal Kingdom. Prices for Disney Genie Plus have ranged widely in the past based on crowd levels and offerings at the parks. When Genie+ was first offered, it sold for $15 per day, and recently during busier times of the year, it climbed to $35 per day.
  • Through Genie+, you can make Lightning Lane reservations via the My Disney Experience Mobile App on the day of your visit. Genie+ Lightning Lanes allow you to access shorter wait times for each ride offered once a day. To select a return time, go to the app’s main menu, select "Tip Board," and scroll down to find the next available Lightning Lane return time for eligible rides that have the “LL Disney Genie+” option. You can start making reservations at 7am on the day of your visit.
  • Genie+ also offers special perks, including Disney World PhotoPass Lenses that enhance your surroundings with Disney flair, digital downloads of select Disney PhotoPass attraction photos (taken in the park on the day of your Genie+ purchase), and Audio Tales featuring fun facts and behind-the-scenes insights.
  • Individual Lightning Lane purchases are not included with Genie+. This separate offering allows you to bypass the long lines for specific high-demand attractions and are offered at an a la carte rate.

Tips for Using Genie+ at Disney World

Always have a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation booked. Make your first reservation as soon as you can book it (starting at 7am every day). Throughout the day, even if you’re going to lunch or taking a break, make sure you have your next Lightning Lane secured, as these spots can fill up very fast.

Know when you can make your next Genie+ Lightning Lane Reservation. You can book your next ride reservation once 120 minutes have passed or after you have redeemed your ride reservation. You can’t choose a specific return time for your attraction, and you’ll only have access to the next available Lightning Lane return window offered on the app.  

Use Genie+ on the most popular rides at the parks. Instead of trying to book Genie+ for every ride you go on during the day (which can get overwhelming), prioritize reservations for the rides that have the longest wait times. Remember that you can often catch attractions with shorter wait times in the early morning and later evening.

Continue refreshing the app to check for return times that have sold out for the day or are too late at night. Sometimes, cancellations cause return times to be released back into the pool, and you can grab these if they appear.

For park hopping, look for return times after park hopping starts at 2pm. You can’t book a Lightning Lane return time that is before 2pm (when park hopping is allowed), but you can keep an eye out to see when times have passed 2pm and reserve one of them as they pop up.

Know how to use your Multiple Experience Passes if a ride breaks down. If you have a Lightning Lane reservation and the ride breaks down within that window, you’ll be given a Multiple Experience Pass, which is valid for any other attraction in the same tier as the one that you originally booked. If this happens, you can see which rides qualify for booking on the app.

Be sure to account for the time it takes to get to your booked Lightning Lane return time so that you redeem within your window. While there will be a short grace period, Disney is not required to redeem your Lightning Lane if you arrive past the reserved window.

At each park, we have recommendations for which Genie+ Lightning Lanes to book first for popular attractions.

  • At Magic Kingdom, we recommend booking Big Thunder Mountain first, as it’s a popular outdoor ride and weather can cause it to close later in the day.
  • At Hollywood Studios, we recommend Slinky Dog Dash in the morning, as Genie+ reservations run out extremely quickly for this ride.
  • At Animal Kingdom, we recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris first because the animals will be more active in the mornings.
  • At EPCOT, we recommend securing Lightning Lane reservations for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure first.

There are certain parks that you can get away with not purchasing Genie+ for and save the money. At Animal Kingdom and EPCOT, you can purchase Individual Lightning Lanes for popular attractions and access shorter lines for other rides earlier in the morning and later in the evening. At Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, on the other hand, we highly recommend buying Genie+ due to the number of rides and their line lengths.

Read our full guide to Disney World Genie+ for all of our tips on using Genie+ and what attractions are included!

At MickeyVisit.com, we share the most important tips for planning your trips to Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Universal, and beyond. Each week, we’ll share some of our top tips here on Laughing Place.

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Gavin Doyle
Gavin Doyle is the founder of MickeyVisit.com and the best-selling author of “Disneyland Secrets”. Mickey Visit has been featured by Travel+Leisure, ABC, the LA Times, OC Register, Forbes, and more and reaches millions of readers planning Disney vacations each month. Over 100K subscribers receive their free email planning newsletter.