Get the Most Out of Genie+ During Busy Times in Disney

Genie+ is a new feature found within My Disney Experience.  This is a paid option that Guests can add to their Walt Disney World tickets.  By purchasing this option ($15/day/person), Guests are given access to the Lightning Lanes for over 40 attractions in the four main Theme Parks.

By using the Lightning Lanes (queue) instead of the standby lines, Guests are able to save time in line and therefore are able to experience more of the magic offered in the Parks.

As we get more familiar with this feature, we are learning more tips and tricks on how to get the most out of the investment.  We are going to break down how to use Genie+ during those busy days in Walt Disney World so you can get the most out of it and skip more lines.

Overview

Before we dive into how to use Genie+ during those busy days in Walt Disney World, we wanted to do a quick review of what Genie+ is.

Disney Genie was added to My Disney Experience in October 2021.  It is a free feature that will provide suggestions for how to experience the Parks by giving tips on rides, experiences, and dining throughout the day.

As part of this new feature, Guests can choose to add Genie+.  As we mentioned before, this is a paid feature that Guests add to their Disney tickets.  This can be done per day or for the whole trip.  We have a whole post on how to purchase Genie+ HERE to help with those questions.

Disney has stated that Guests can expect to get two to three Genie+ Lightning Lanes each day in the Park.  We will look at how to help you make this possible moving forward.

Keep in mind that in each of the four Parks there are rides that aren’t included in your Genie+ purchase.  Individual Lightning Lanes are specific rides such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance that Guests purchase individually in order to use the lightning lanes.  The price for these are date base, but the cost is typically between $7 and $15/ride/person.

All three of these features work together to help Guests have a better experience in the Parks during their Walt Disney World vacation.

Let’s look at how you can get the most out of your Genie+ purchase.

Be Prepared

The first step is to be prepared!  There are a few steps that you should have done BEFORE you want to use Genie+.  Having these steps done ahead of time will put you a step ahead of others giving you more opportunities to select popular Genie+ attractions.

First and foremost, you need to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of My Disney Experience.  This app updates often, so make sure that you have gone into your app store and made sure you have the most recent version.

Once you have the most recent version of My Disney Experience, sign in and make sure you have everything linked.  This means your Walt Disney World tickets as well as your friends and family.  Making sure everyone is connected will make it easy for Genie+ to add those people to your party.

Having this set up before your Walt Disney World, it will make not only Genie+ easier to navigate, but it will make your overall experience in Walt Disney World smoother.

Practice

You can’t actually practice booking Genie+ prior to your actual date; however, you can get on My Disney Experience and get familiar with where everything is located.

Knowing where the Tip Board is on Disney Genie is super important.  This is where Guests will select those rides, shows, and even dining options that are important to them.  By doing, not only does this help Disney Genie provides you suggestions while in the Parks, but it also helps prepare your screen for Genie+.

To help be ready for the 7 am drop, we highly recommend setting up your Tip Board with the one or two rides that you are wanting to focus on for your first Genie+ selection.  Having these selected will put them at the top of your screen making it easier and faster to snatch those Genie+ times.

This might seem silly, but seconds matter!

Set the Alarm

Even though you won’t want to set that alarm, it is super important that you do so in order to get the most out of your Genie+ purchase.

You can make your first Genie+ selection at 7 am EST no matter where you are as long as you have a valid ticket, Park passes reservation, and have paid for Genie+.

Since all Guests (those staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel and those not) can all make their first selection at 7 am, it is extremely important to be up and ready to go prior to 7 am.

Prioritize 

Not all Genie+ selections are created equal.  When traveling to Walt Disney World during busy times, you will want to make sure you prioritize your Genie+ selections to get the most out of your purchase.  This means choosing those rides and attractions that will have longer waits throughout the day or that the Genie+ selection will book up quickly.

Below you can find our suggestions for prioritizing your Genie+ selections for each Disney Park:

Magic Kingdom:  Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise

EPCOT:  Test Track, Frozen Ever After

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:  Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  Slinky Dog Dash, Milleniumun Falcon Smuggler’s Run

Refresh

Finally, a big tip when it comes to Genie+ is to make sure you refresh if you don’t see what you want.  Since Genie+ is a live system, what is available is constantly updating.  Because of this, you will want to make sure you refresh (pull down from the top of your screen) as you will see updated options each time.

This is an important tip to know about Genie+ because it will allow you to see new options and choose the best option for your day.

We continue to learn more about Genie+ each and every time we use it in Walt Disney World.  These tips are the ones that we have found to be the best overall and especially helpful when it comes to busy times in Walt Disney World.