Best Genie+ Strategy for Epcot Your Family Will Love

Discover the Best Genie+ Strategy for Epcot
This photograph was taken by Michael from Countdown to Magic

Genie+ is a digital planning tool that gives Disney World visitors the opportunity to prioritize their “must do” attractions.  But because there’s so many great things to do at Epcot, it can be hard to determine the best way to use Genie Plus in order to experience everything.  So in this article, I’m going to share with you what I believe to be the best Genie+ strategy for Epcot, which should hopefully allow for you and your family to have an incredible experience at Disney World.

Best Genie+ Strategy for Epcot in the Morning

This photograph was taken by Michael from Countdown to Magic

Let’s begin with how you can use Genie+ to your advantage during the morning at Epcot.

Morning

Since you’re looking to hit every Epcot attraction, I already know you’ll be at the park bright and early! Remember, if you’re staying on property, or at select other hotels, you’ll be guaranteed early entry to Epcot, which is 30 minutes prior to the park opening. Trust me, you’ll want to take advantage of this! 

Behind Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind the newest attraction to Epcot is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Since Guardian’s of the Galaxy isn’t part of the regular Genie+ package and requires either a Virtual Queue spot or an Individual Lightning Lane purchase (more on that later), I’d recommend that your first Lightning Lane selection is Remy, because this stand-by queue will get long fast, and most folks are heading to the France pavilion to rope drop this one. The big tip here is to grab a late-morning Lightning Lane, because as soon as you use it, you’re able to grab another! 

Now that you have your Virtual Queue spot for Guardians of the Galaxy and your Lightning Lane for Remy you’ll want to head over to Norway to ride Frozen Ever After at rope drop. 

Norway isn’t too far into the World Showcase. So, you have a couple options for what’s next. If that ride has you hungry for a breakfast treat, grab some coffee and School Bread (one of my Epcot favorites) at the Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe and munch on that while you make your way back over to Future World. 

Another great option is to hop off Frozen Ever after and make your way over to future world, where you could stop for a breakfast bite at Sunshine Season’s on your way to your next two attractions! 

Hop into the standby line for Soarin’ Around the World and after you return from your flight, make your way next door for Living with the Land (I can almost guarantee a walk on for this one). 

Once you wrap up in the Land Pavillion you’ll want to start to make your way back to France for your Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Lightning Lane. By then you will have gotten a ton of steps in, and still have a whole day ahead, so I recommend taking the Friendship boat across the World Showcase Lagoon to maximize time and rest your feet! 

Check in for Remy. As soon as you do, you’re ready to make your next Lightning Lane reservation for the afternoon. You’ll want your next one to be for Test Track! If you did score a queue spot for Guardians, see if you can make a Lightning Lane reservation close to that time! But if not, I’d make this one for the evening part of your day. If you’re taking dinner/dining plans into consideration, just be sure to leave yourself ample time! 

Now that you’ve experienced 4 attractions, it’s time to take in the World Showcase. Make your way around, stop at the pavilions, grab some lunch and/or snacks, and don’t forget to pause for those great photo ops! Check your Epcot Park Map or your App for show times, times you might be able to catch Sergio the juggler, Taiko Drummers and Mariachi band! 

Afternoon

Untitled” by Theme Park Tourist is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Hopefully you’ve taken some time in your afternoon to take in the sights and sounds of the World Showcase.  Now once you ride Test Track, go ahead and grab a Lightning Lane for Spaceship Earth, I’d grab a time for right before you plan on leaving the park (more on this later).

Now that you’ve gotten two more big rides off your list, go ahead and make your way to Mission Space, since you’re right next door! 

Another ride done! By now you’ve ridden some action-packed rides and spent most of the day outside, time kick off the evening nice and relaxed! 

Evening

Once you depart outer space, make your way over to the Seas! Here you can take some time to explore the aquatic life in the Seas pavilion and enjoy The Seas with Nemo and Friends as well as Turtle Talk with Crush. You should find that neither one of these attractions have significant wait times. 

From here, you’ll want to make your way back out to World Showcase, towards Canada. On your way there you’ll pass two more attractions that will also have short waits! It’s time to ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment and check out the Pixar Short Film Festival

Hopefully, you’ve picked a delicious spot for dinner in World Showcase because now it’s time to indulge and then get ready to stake out your spot for Harmonious

Harmonious is Epcot’s evening spectacular and it’s a great one! Most nights the show begins at 9:00pm but be sure to check the My Disney Experience app to confirm the time on the day of your visit. You’ll want to scope out a spot at least 30-45 minutes before show time. There are lots of great suggestions for viewing here: Harmonious. 

Now that you’ve seen the show it’s time to hit your last stop! You’ve got that last Lighting Lane for Spaceship Earth! As you head out of the park, hop into line and enjoy your last ride of the day! 

Genie+ Attractions and Lightning Lane Entrances

Mission: SPACE” by Steven Miller licensed under CC BY 2.0

The great thing about Epcot is that while the park is large, there aren’t too many attractions, so it’s quite feasible to get nearly all of them done in one day, and definitely possible if you’re going to spend more than one day there. The following attractions offer Lightning Lane entrances through Genie+:

  • Disney Pixar Short Film Festival
  • Frozen Ever After 
  • Journey into Imagination with Figment 
  • Mission Space (Green & Orange) 
  • Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure 
  • Soarin’ Around the World 
  • Spaceship Earth 
  • Test Track
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends 
  • Turtle Talk with Crush 

Genie+ Attraction at Epcot Without Lighting Lane Entrance

There is currently only one attraction at Epcot that does not offer Lightning Lane Entrance with Genie+ and that is Epcot’s latest attraction: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.   But don’t worry—there are a couple of ways to secure your spot on this out of this world attraction. 

Virtual queues have become quite common among some of the most highly anticipated attractions at Disney World. With this option, you can hop into the My Disney Experience App, secure your spot in line and then go about your time in the parks until your designated widow to ride. 

Joining the Virtual Queue

There are some things to keep in mind if you choose this option for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind during your day at Epcot. You will need to have a valid admission ticket and theme park reservation. You will have 2 opportunities to request to join the virtual queue, if your theme park reservation is to START at Epcot, you’ll be able to log into the app promptly at 7:00am to join the virtual queue (you will not need to be in the park). 

If you park hopped over to Epcot, or you find yourself still in the park at 1:00pm, you can log in again for another opportunity to join a virtual queue.  This is a great option that’s not going to cost anything additional to ride Epcot’s newest (and currently most popular) attraction), but you do need to be quick! 

Lightning Lane Entrances for Individual Purchase

The other option for Guardian’s of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind is going to be to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane . This option really depends on how much money you want to spend and how you want to spend your time. As we’ll discuss, there is a way to strategize Epcot without making additional Lightning Lane purchases. Guardian’s of the Galaxy has averaged between $15-$17 per person. So, for a party of 4, that’s $68 if it’s at its highest price point. 

This option may not be for everyone, but it is something to consider if you and your group are eager to ride this one, and a failsafe you should consider if you don’t happen to grab a spot in the virtual queue, as there is no standby option for this ride.

Conclusion

Congratulations—you did pretty much every major attraction at Epcot in one day!  I promised you the best Genie+ strategy for Epcot, and hopefully, you have found this article to be helpful to your vacation planning process.   

So ultimately, is Genie+ worth the extra per person, and per day, price tag?  Well, if this is your first (and perhaps only) trip to Disney, I’d say go for it! It will likely save you a lot of time waiting in standby lines, which will likely make for much more pleasant vacation experience.

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