Hi Brooke,
I'm so glad your flying carpet brought you to planDisney, where we specialize in helping Guests maximize the magic on their Disney vacations. Can you believe you'll be at Walt Disney World Resort in less than a month? If you liked the convenience of shorter attraction wait times with FastPass+, you're going to enjoy a similar perk when using the Lightning Lane entrances that come with a Disney Genie+ service purchase. Let's explore this whole new world of magic.
The
Disney Genie+ service, available for a set cost per person per day, allows you to select the next available
Lightning Lane arrival window at over 40 attractions across all four theme parks. If your ticket does not include Genie+, you can purchase this service in advance for the duration of your trip or via the Tip Board in the
My Disney Experience mobile app beginning at 12:00 a.m. on the day of use (home screen --> My Day --> Tip Board). Before your first park day, you'll also need to make sure your entire planning party is linked as
Family and Friends in My Disney Experience. This is important because you can make Lightning Lane selections for up to 12 people that appear on your Family and Friends list.
When the clock strikes 7:00 a.m., it's time to book your first Lightning Lane attraction. My recommendations for your first Genie+ Lightning Lane selections for each park are based on the approximate time saved by not waiting in the standby queue as well as an attraction's likelihood to run out of arrival times. Those attractions are Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan's Flight at Magic Kingdom park, Slinky Dog Dash and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Test Track and Soarin' Around the World at EPCOT and Na'vi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom park. My first time using Genie+, I booked a 6:00 p.m. arrival time for Slinky Dog Dash at 7:05 a.m. If your goal is to experience specific attractions with a shorter wait time, you take what you can get in terms of arrival time. Park opening is a good time to experience attractions via the standby line while waiting to book your next Lightning Lane attraction.
When using Disney Genie+ service, if your first Lightning Lane arrival time is more than two hours after park opening or if a subsequent Lightning Lane reservation is more than two hours after the booking time, you are given a time when you can make an additional Lightning Lane reservation. Whenever this happens,
set a timer on your phone so you don’t forget. I also recommend keeping an eye on standby line wait times on your Tip Board and letting the Genie service's personalized itinerary creator help guide your next steps between Lightning Lane bookings. Genie will even show nearby dining options and table service reservation availability.
If your Lightning Lane arrival time is within two hours of booking, you can make your next Lightning Lane selection as soon as you've cleared the second touchpoint of your current attraction. My goal is always to book my next Lightning Lane attraction while waiting in the short line to experience my current attraction. If your goal is to experience as many attractions as possible, keep an eye on the next available arrival time close to your current location.
A practically perfect Genie+ day is a combination of fun and flexibility. If your park days involve park hopping, please come back to planDisney for the next chapter of Genie+ recommendations.
Choose magic,
Jennifer