Best Genie Plus Strategy For Magic Kingdom You’ll Love
If you’re heading to Disney World soon, then you no doubt are interested in the best Genie Plus strategy in Magic Kingdom. If you fall into this category, don’t fret, as we outline our tips for which rides you should prioritize most via Genie+.
Best Genie Plus Strategy For Magic Kingdom
Now if you start booking your Genie+ reservations right at 7 am, you have 90% of the stress of booking attractions completely done. In fact, the the next things you need to consider are when you should make the reservations for (assuming you have a few options) and which rides are considered a high priority with the longest wait times.
You can look at the lists below to know which rides are a low priority (not worth reserving or have short wait times), and which rides are a high priority (worth reserving or have ling standby wait times) in Magic Kingdom:
Low Priority Rides:
- Barnstormer
- Dumbo
- It’s A Small World
- Mad Tea Party
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Under the Sea
High Priority Rides:
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Winnie the Pooh
- Haunted Mansion
- Splash Mountain
- Pirates of the Caribbean
My biggest advice when making these reservations is to avoid making any during the Parade or fireworks show. However, if you are don’t care about parades or firework shows, then use these times to ride any ride you missed a reservation for because the lines completely disappear, especially during fireworks!
In short, you don’t need to use a Genie+ reservation on a ride during a parade or firework show because most people won’t be waiting in a ride queue. So, the standby lines should be considerably shorter.
When to Reserve a Genie Plus Lightning Lane?
My best advice when preparing for your day in Magic Kingdom is to reserve those high priority rides nice and early. At rope drop or park open, run to the rides that you may have missed out on or are not as busy as those high priority rides but ones you still want to do while at Magic Kingdom.
Here is how I would plan my day at Magic Kingdom to maximize my time and ride every ride:
- 6:30 a.m. – Purchase Genie Plus ($15)
- 7:00 a.m. – Reserve Jungle Cruise for 9 a.m.
- 8:45 a.m. (assuming rope drop is at 9 a.m.) – Arrive at Magic Kingdom
- 9:00 a.m. – Purchase Individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- 9:10 – 9:20 – Ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain (close proximity to one another)
- 9:30 – Jungle Cruise
- 9:40 – Pirates of the Caribbean
- 11:00 a.m. – Reserve Peter Pan
- 1:00 p.m. Reserve Winnie the Pooh
- 5:00 p.m. or later – Run to Space Mountain
If you follow this order, I can ensure that you will ride all the high priority rides with plenty of time left for the low priority rides in between!
Genie vs Genie Plus
This is a common question amongst guests and can get a little confusing, no matter if you are a new Disney visitor or a long-time visitor of the parks. Genie Plus is not an upgrade to Genie, a common misconception amongst guests. Instead, you can think of Genie as an app within an app. Genie is a free service that is part of the My Disney Experience App that helps you plan your day in the park.
Genie is comprised of two parts, the Tip Board and the My Day options. The Tip Board is where you can quickly find information regarding your favorite rides and attractions in the park you are visiting that day. This is also where you can purchase Individual Lightning Lanes as well, which we will discuss further shortly. The My Day option is where you can purchase Genie Plus and see all the reservations you have currently made.
You do not need to purchase Genie Plus to access the information Genie has to offer, but you will need to purchase Genie Plus if you want to make reservations to skip the lines to your favorite rides. Genie is convenient if you want to look at wait times before you head into the park that day!
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How Much Does Genie Plus Cost?
If you decide to use Genie Plus to skip the long lines for your favorite rides in Magic Kingdom, you need to plan to pay $15 plus tax per person per day. You can purchase Genie Plus in advance as part of your vacation package. If you decide to do this, you will be required to purchase Genie Plus for every day you plan to spend in the park.
If you would rather use Genie Plus for only one park and not all, you can purchase Genie Plus on the day you plan to visit a park after midnight. If you decide to purchase Genie Plus the day of, keep in mind that it can only be used on that particular day.
What Is Lightning Lane?
If you are a frequent visitor of Walt Disney World, you can think of the Lightning Lane as the same thing as the FastPass option that was once available. The only difference is now you must pay to skip the lines of your favorite rides.
There are two ways to use the Lightning Lane option. One way is through Genie Plus and the other way is through individual Lightning Lane purchases. Whichever option you choose, you will be given a return time that will consist of an hour window of time that you will be able to ride once you make your reservation.
During your return window, you can enter the lightning lane after you scan your magic band that is linked to your app or your park ticket to the touchpoint at the beginning of the rides line. The touchpoint will turn green, and you will be set to enter the ride queue.
The Lightning Lane will have a much shorter wait time compared to the regular queue. The most common wait time in the Lightning Lane is five minutes. However, you will never have to wait more than 20 minutes to board your ride!
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What Are Individual Lightning Lanes?
Individual Lightning Lanes work exactly the same as Lightning Lanes, but the individual Lightning Lane options are not part of Genie Plus. Instead, you pay directly for these through the Genie tab on the My Disney Experience App. Individual Lightning Lanes are often available for the rides with above average wait times, like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
However, rides with this option are constantly changing to keep up with changes in guest flow and new rides that are constantly being built in all the parks. If you want to keep up on which rides have this option available before your trip, be sure to check under Genie in the My Disney Experience App before you arrive!
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How Much Do Individual Lightning Lanes Cost?
Typically, you can expect to pay the same amount as you would for Genie Plus ($15 plus tax). Depending on how busy and how popular the ride is that you are looking to ride, you can expect to pay anywhere between 7$ and $15 plus tax.
Rules Of Genie Plus
Purchase Genie Plus at the start of the day:
You can purchase Genie Plus right at midnight on the day you wish to use it. Genie Plus is only available for the current calendar day and not a full 24 hours. Because of this, I recommend purchasing your Lightning Pass in the morning around 6:30 am.
You need Genie Plus to use Genie Plus Lightning Lanes:
Whether it is just you in the park or all ten members of your family, you all will need to purchase Genie Plus to use the Genie Plus Lightning Lanes feature. I highly recommend allowing one person in your party make all the reservations, so you ensure you all are given the same one-hour window to ride.
You can reserve your first Genie Plus at 7 am the day of:
Whether you are staying on Disney property or not, everyone can make a Genie Plus reservation starting at 7 am. Aside from purchasing Genie Plus at 6:30 that morning, I highly recommend refreshing your app right at 6:59:59 to ensure you get a reservation for the ride you do not want to miss. I understand this may sound unnecessary, but getting these passes is not easy and you have to be on you’re a-game that morning!
Genie Plus can only be used for each ride once a day:
Once you make a Genie Plus reservation, you cannot make another for that same ride on the same day, even if there are openings on the app. If you cancel your previous reservation, you will be able to make another reservation at a different time for the same ride on the same day.
When you make a reservation, you will be given one time option to ride:
This rule is different from Individual Lightning Lanes. When you make your reservation, the app will automatically show the times that are available. Therefore, being up and, on the app, early in the morning is essential because the reservations sometimes disappear within seconds. You will not have the luxury picking the exact time you want to ride, so be sure you use this service for the ride you do not want to miss and plan your day around the time you are given.
If you plan to park hop, you can only book another ride time at 2 pm outside the park you started the day in:
This rule can sometimes be confusing for guests. Essentially, if you start your day in Magic Kingdom, you will not be able to reserve another Genie Plus Lighting Lane until 2 pm that afternoon for a different park.
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When Can I Book My Next Genie Plus Lightning Lane?
This may be the most common question guests have using the Genie Plus service. Once you make one Genie Plus booking, you cannot make another until:
- You use your current Genie Plus reservation or
- You wait two hours from when your last Genie Plus reservation was made
Keep in mind, the two-hour count down does not begin until park opens, even if you made a reservation before then. So, if you made a reservation at 7 am for a ride in Magic Kingdom but the park does not open until 9 am, you will not be able to make another Genie Plus reservation until 11 am!
Conclusion
There is no denying having the right plan for your day in Magic Kingdom is essential to maximize your time and make the cost of entering the park worth it. If you follow my advice above about the best Genie Plus strategy for Magic Kingdom, I very much feel that you will be able to ride nearly every ride in the park in one day while avoiding the long wait times that often waste so much of your day!
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