When it comes to Disney Genie Plus the Disney Community is largely divided. While I don't like paying for Fast Passes that were previously free, and I hate that I can't plan my fast passes ahead of time; I will concede that when used properly it WORKS!
In this Blog I will suggest a couple different ways you can use Disney Genie Plus based on your park schedule. Whether it be one park per day, or park hopping I've got tips and tricks for you!
The Basics of using Genie Plus
This section is specifically for any novices that might be out there, let me start by telling you how you can get to Disney Genie Plus. The first thing you need is the Disney World App, it's completely Free and you can log into your My Disney Experience account, and connect your card information. There are two different ways you can book your fast passes, now known as lighting lane selections. You can buy the Disney Genie+ for $15 per person, per day; or you can purchase individual Lighting Lane for the "Top Tier" attractions at each park.
When you open your app you can either hit the plus icon, it's the bottom middle icon on the screen. Or my personal preference is to hit the 3 lines on the far right. From there it will take you to this screen below.
At the top of this screen you can see the "Tip Board" and "My Genie Day". Both of these feature are available absolutely free and are planning tools. On the Tip Board you can see wait times by park, and when you click on any of the attractions listed you can see how the wait times vary throughout the day, and it can help you plan when the best time would be to ride based on when the wait times are longer/shorter. You can add things to your plans and view your plan under "My Genie Day". This planning tool can be super helpful, but keep in mind that these are not actual reservations, it it just a planning tool to prioritize what you want to do.
Disney Genie+ and Individual Lighting Lane selections can be purchased from the Tip Board.
Times & Prices
The timing can get a little confusing because there are multiple variables to be considered.
Genie+: For $15 per person, per day you can buy Genie+. It is no longer available for pre-purchase. If you have already purchased it with your trip then you don't need to worry, but going forward guests are only able to purchase the day of their park reservation. You can purchase Genie+ as early as midnight the day of your reservation, and you can make your first lightning lane selection at 7:00 am. You cannot choose the time frame, it's based on availability. Your next selection will depend on what time you made your first selection for, and whether or not you are staying at a Disney resort. A very simplified explanation of how often you can pick is every 2 hours, or after you've already checked into the of your most recent selection. So, if you are staying at a Disney resort you can make your next selection at 9am. If you are not staying at a Disney resort you can make your next selection 2 hours after park opening. For example, if the park opens at 8:30 am and you were able to make a selection right at 8:30 am, regardless of whether you're a resort guest or not.
Individual Lighting Lane: The price for Individual lightning lane varies by attraction and by day. There is no set price but from my experience they cost between $8-$14 per person. You are only able to purchase two individual lighting lanes per day, and already need to have a park reservation in place. If you are staying at a Disney resort you are able to purchase those individual lighting lane selections at 7:00 am. If you are not at a Disney resort guest than you can attempt to make your purchase at park opening. You do not need to be in the park to purchase, but you do need to have a valid reservation.
All lightning lane selections are on a first come first serve basis, and do not guarantee you will be able to visit that attraction.
What Attractions are Included:
Here are the current attractions available for Genie+ and Individual lightning lane at each park. The rides that have asterisks (**) next to their name indicate that they are subject to change day to day between individual Lightning Lane, and Genie+.
Genie+:
Individual Lightning Lane:
Making your Selections
First thing you'll want to do is select the park you're visiting, once you've selected your park it will look like the picture on the right. The rides are listed in alphabetical order, the name of the ride is listed, any height restrictions, followed by the wit time, and then the Lightning Lane time frame.
On the Tip Board you will select the park your looking to make a selection for, you can maneuver between parks throughout the day if you are park hopping. The attractions & shows are on the left and dining is on the right. The dining window is for mobile ordering, and is there for convenience but not a part of Genie+.
Using Genie Plus at One Park Per Day
Genie+ is the easiest to use when remaining at one park per day, and it works the best at Magic Kingdom because they have the most eligible attractions. I'm going to go over 3 different ways I'd recommend using Genie+ when visiting one park per day.
Option 1: Prioritizing by wait times.
This option requires a little bit of knowledge about average wait times per ride, or if you don't have the knowledge you can use the tip board to see how the wait times fluctuate throughout the day. With this method you will make your selections based on rides that typically have long wait times so that you can avoid those lines. This is typically the roller coasters, and during the summer the water rides. But it can also include rides like Peter Pan at Magic Kingdom which typically has a minimum of an hour long wait. Therefore when you make your first pick at 7:00 and all your subsequent picks, you'll want to choose those rides. Typically, I like picking those rides based on whichever one is currently the latest in the day since it will be less likely to be available during my next window. In between your selections you can enjoy attractions that do not have a long wait, or see shows that can accommodate large crowds and don't typically require advanced arrival.
Option 2: Picking the next available ride.
This option focuses on getting as many lightning lane selections as possible. You would pick whichever ride window is the closest. Once you scan into that ride you get to make your next selection and pick whichever ride has the next available time, so on and so forth. The only downside of this method is if you want to ride the more popular attractions their selections tend to be hours away because they are selected more frequently by guests.
Option 3: Stacking your lightning lanes.
I like to use this option when I'm only going to the park in the evenings. It avoids the hottest and busiest parts of the day, and allows me to get a lot done in less time. With this method you would make your first selection at 7:00 am or maybe a little after for whatever attraction is latest in the day. I have often waited til about 7:10-7:15 to allow attractions to reach a later time. Then you make another selection every 2 hours for whatever attractions are available after the time you plan on arriving to the park. Let me give you an example, if you're visiting Magic Kingdom and plan to arrive at 5:00 pm and stay til park close, then you would pick whichever ride is available at or after 5:00 pm. Then 2 hours later, or if you're staying off Disney property 2 hours after park opening you would pick another attraction that's currently available for after 5:00 pm. I have frequently picked 2 attractions within the same time slot, because in most cases you can easily enjoy both attractions within that hour window. Even if you're staying off property that would allow you to enter the park at 5:00 pm with 4-5 lighting lane attractions already scheduled.
Using Genie Plus while Park Hopping
When park hopping Genie+ can be a little trickier because you have to be aware of the time it takes to go from park to park. I'm going to go over 3 different ways you can use Disney Genie+ while park hopping.
Option 1: Prioritizing by ride.
If there are specific rides you want to hit at each of the parks your visiting you'll want to prioritize by those rides. Disney does not allow park hopping until after 2:00 pm and you have to check into the park you made the reservation for before you are able to visit other parks. One of the great things about park hopping with Genie+ is that if you make a selection for the park you did not reserve, even if it's not currently giving a lightning lane time frame after 2:00 pm, when you make that selection Genie+ will automatically default you to 2:00 pm-3:00 pm. So if your reservation is for Epcot and you really want to ride Kilimanjaro Safari but the current time frame is before 2:00 pm, it will automatically push it to 2:00 pm when you are able to enter the park. When you're prioritizing by ride the key is to pick the rides that are a bit later in the day to allow you time to travel between the parks.
Option 2: Prioritizing by park.
When prioritizing by park you'll want to set windows in which you will be in each park. You can then pick whatever is available during that window of opportunity.
Option 3: Picking the next available ride.
The focus of this method is to get as many lightning lane selections as possible. You'll pick whatever is the first available for whichever park you've made a reservation for, then after you check into that ride you'll select whatever is the next available for that park until you are ready to park hop or their are no more ride immediately available. Then you will check each of the other parks and pick whatever is the closest window and head over to that park. Once there and you are checked into the ride, you can pick whatever is next available within that park until you are ready to move again.
I hope these tips help you make the most of your trip with Disney Genie+, if you have any questions feel free to comment! All of the information listed in this article can be found on the My Disney Experience App. Recommendations were based on personal experience.
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