This guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World explains paid FastPass, with answers frequently asked questions about ride reservations, line-skipping, and itinerary tools for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Plus, tips & tricks, how to use the 120 minute rule to strategically stack and save time! (Updated January 15, 2024.)
In the meantime, Genie+ per-park pricing debuted at Walt Disney World over the summer. This is very similar to how single-day park admission works; the less popular parks (Animal Kingdom and EPCOT) cost less, and the more popular parks (Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios) are priced higher. Those who want the Park Hopping or Multiple Parks option will pay the highest rates of all, but that has always been identical to Magic Kingdom pricing thus far.
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You might see outdated resources indicating that Genie+ costs $15 per day plus tax. That changed several months ago when Walt Disney World switched to date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. This means that on days when demand is projected to be higher at Walt Disney World, Genie+ will cost more.
We actually rank the best Genie+ Lightning Lane picks for each park based upon time saved and how quickly return times fill up and run out. This is incredibly helpful for choosing the order to book your ride reservations:
Far and away the most popular is Slinky Dog Dash, which can fill up in seconds or minutes, depending upon the season. For this attraction and whenever possible, follow our Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections.
Previously, there was no way to modify a Genie+ reservation, so you had to cancel and rebook, which was a tedious process. By the time you got back to the booking screen, what you saw when refreshing was usually gone. Not only that, but cancelling and rebooking reset the clock on the 120 minute rule. With the addition of the modify button, all of that has been fixed.
If you have trouble loading the app or have an error at 7:00 am (which happens much more than you might think), it can be better to wait ]instead of booking the first Lightning Lane selection you see at 7:03 am (or thereabouts).
There tend to be two refills before 7:30 am, plus others throughout the day, usually shortly after the hour or half-hour. See Ride Reservation Refill Rules at Walt Disney World for more on this added availability throughout the day. This can make it much easier to book Lightning Lanes for the best attractions.
With the introduction of the modify button, searching for ride reservation refills is now easier than ever. Combined, the two strategies can be leveraged to score several more Lightning Lane selections per day.
Throughout the year, prices may be lower on some days and higher on other days. See our Guide to Individual Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for everything else you need to know about price ranges, ILL availability, and much more.
Guests staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel are able to purchase and schedule the first Individual Lightning Lane attraction at 7 am, ahead of off-site guests, who can to do so when the park opens.
Guests have the ability to select family and friends in My Disney Experience during the ride reservation process, and one person can complete the process for everyone. (It should go without saying, but Genie+ needs to be purchased for every single guest who wants to use the service.)
That remains to be seen. Walt Disney World has on-site hotel occupancy targets that are incredibly important metrics. If bookings are low or cancellations continue, expect to see more incentives to stay on-site, including the potential for Genie+ included with select stays.
However, this could happen at some point in 2024 as Walt Disney World looks to improve guest satisfaction. Now that the ticket add-on has ended, Lightning Lane availability has improved, and offering a discount to APs and DVC Members could be a good way to spike sales while also improving guest goodwill among those groups.
This is far superior to complaining in comments, social media, forums, etc. (Although Disney sees all of that, too.) Rather than starting petitions, which are largely ineffectual, share feedback in guest satisfaction surveys, bring it up if you speak with managers or others in park leadership, or even contact Guest Relations.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
How does Genie+ 2 hour rule work with the Multiple Parks option?
Can you make your second selection two hours after the earliest park opening or two hours after the park opens in which you made your first selection?
You can only make another selection after you tapped into your LAST booked genie selection or wait 120 mins. If I had to guess, the ILL fro frozen at 10am was likely made at the 7am selection time and you likely made another selection after that? Just a guess but a common misunderstanding of how genie+ works.
Thanks for the input, Mike, but no, I did not have or make any other LL selection after that first one. Every morning, in every park, I made my first Genie+ LL selection at 7 am. Most of our return times were in the 10 am hour, so we would swipe into our first LL sometime that hour, always before 11 am. But in every park, every day, I was not able to make my SECOND LL selection of the day until 11 am (2 hours after park opening), even though we had already swiped into and completed our first LL before 11 am.
I am here now and noticed something seemed different than last year as well. Usually we could book a genie+ reservation at 7am and if redeemed prior to the two hours after park opening you could just make your next reservation with the 120 rule resetting at
that point. In the above example the guest did this and should have been able to book an experience at 1015 immediately for 121 minutes from 1015 and then made another reservation at 1216. This is a very big strategy change. Tom, can you confirm?
Hi! I just wanted to clarify the section on park hopping with annual pass. Is there still a restriction on making genie plus reservations at a later park if you hold an annual pass? Am I not able to make a genie plus reservation until I hop to my second park, or can I make a reservation for my next park at any time since all day park hopping has returned? Thank you so much ?
Those italics in the rules are really important. When Genie first released, using any reservation unlocked a new reservation. Disney closed that loophole, so now both parts of the rule only apply to your most recent reservation.
The one caveat is that at Hollywood Studios on a high crowd day, you may only be able to stack 2 or 3 reservations before everything is sold out for the day anyway. You can still save a lot of time, but you should start the day with a plan for how to rope drop a few attractions and stack reservations for the others.
Have you tried the stacking strategy on a WDW vacation? Or do you prefer getting Genie+ reservations that you can use almost immediately? Do you have more detailed questions? Let me know in the comments!
Hi Becky, brilliant information as usual, I was intending to early entry rope drop AK first ride Flight of passage, and stack for MK, will be in spring break.
Because the genie + two hour from park opening is from the park you booked your first lightning lane. Would I be better booking my very first LL at AK before stacking in MK, and if so which LL would you pick.
Intending to follow you plan of flight of passage, Navi River, Safari, Everest, Dinosaur
Thanks for this! A few questions on stacking:
1. If I make a genie plus reservation at lets say 10am and its for a ride with a return time of 8pm and 120 minutes pass by- its now 12 pm and I find another genie plus ride and its for earlier than 8pm at lets say 5:30pm , is that going to be bookable and not cancel out my later 8pm reservation?
3. Can you make your PAID lightning lane reservations all simultaneously while having genie plus reservations? And in addition to making the reservations, can the return times overrlap either in party of whole? I know you can have both paid options but wondering if they work completely exclusively or if there are any rules on having them and using them together?
7. If I am not sure what my plans will be for the afternoon but know that I will get there in the evening and use stacking and reserve the most popular rides for the evening and then if there is still time and reservations left for the afternoon if we decide to pop over, and I use my 120 minutes without lapsing, does that strategy work or is there something I am forgetting or missing in that strategy? That way we either get in shorter standbys in the afternoon if nothing is left or more chances for lower demand rides with genie plus.
There are Genie + Lightning Lanes and then there are the special Lightning Lanes you have to pay extra for. (i.e. Rise of the Resistance and Smugglers Run) Do the Paid Lightning Lanes count for having to wait the 120 minutes?
Would you recommend making a reservation for a ride shortly after park opening and then beginning the stacking strategy as soon as you tap in? for example, at 7AM make a LL for Buzz Lightyear for a 9AM return. Use it right at 9AM and then make your first stacking res for later in the afternoon, for example Space Mountain at 4PM?
This is the best explanation for stacking! The example is extremely helpful. But one thing is not clear to me yet. If I plan to park hop and start at Epcot ending at MK, can I begin with Genie+ reservations for a couple morning rides in Epcot and then begin stacking reservations in at MK before I actually set foot in MK? 152ee80cbc
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