The highly anticipated Disney Genie just launched in Disney World and we HAD to try out this new service.
There are two different paid services within the Disney Genie, including the Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection, aka pay-per-ride. We visited Magic Kingdom to find how just how many rides we could ride by using these new services, so check it out!
At Magic Kingdom, the two rides with Individual Lightning Lanes (that AREN’T included in Disney Genie+) are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain (although Space Mountain is part of Genie+ until August 7, 2022). For these, Disney Resort guests can purchase access to the Lightning Lane starting at 7AM on the day of their visit, while other guests must wait until the park opening time to make those reservations.
Most of the other attractions at the park are included with Disney Genie+. All the standby queues are still available as well, so we set out to see how much we could accomplish at Magic Kingdom in one day, using a combination of standby, Genie+, and Individual Lightning Lanes.
First, we started with a Genie+ window for Splash Mountain from 9AM-10AM. We were able to scan in at 9:05AM and immediately make our next selection — a Barnstormer reservation for 9:30AM. Right after Barnstormer, we chose a Genie+ Lightning Lane for Dumbo the Flying Elephant next door, and we were on and off that ride right around 9:45AM. That’s three rides in the first 45 minutes!
After that, it was time to check-in for our two Individual Lightning Lane Selections. We had access to purchase these at 9AM when Magic Kingdom opened (Disney Resort guests can purchase earlier at 7AM), and booked a Space Mountain for 9:05AM-10:05AM and a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for 9:35AM-10:35AM. Since we were closer to Seven Dwarfs, we knocked that one out first, only waiting 5 minutes in the Lightning Lane for a posted 60-minute wait! Then, we were able to make it to Space Mountain and scan in with just a few minutes to spare.
In the next few hours, we were able to make Genie+ reservations and ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, “it’s a small world,” Tomorrowland Speedway, and Mad Tea Party. We accomplished all of that before noon, INCLUDING a stop for lunch before the teacups! (Maybe not our wisest decision of the day. 😜)
After Mad Tea Party, the next Lightning Lane reservation wasn’t available for Haunted Mansion until 1:15PM, so we went ahead and booked that, hoping to knock out some standby lines in the meantime. Using the recommendations of the free Genie system that’s now included in the My Disney Experience app, we were able to ride the PeopleMover, Under the Sea, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Prince Charming Regal Carrousel in the next hour and a half. That’s quite a lot!
Throughout the afternoon, we visited the Swiss Family Treehouse AND knocked out six more rides. At this point in the day, we were down to Jungle Cruise as our second to last Lightning Lane left, so to fill in the time while we waited for that window to open we decided to hit up some shows!
We were able to watch Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress, AND Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor all before our Jungle Cruise Lightning Lane reservation became available.
We made it to Jungle Cruise at 6:16PM and waited 10 minutes in the Lightning Lane (which was a bit longer than others we had experienced before). The standby wait time here was posted at 55 minutes.
With a little under 3 hours left until park close, there was no doubt in our mind that we’d be able to hit all of the attractions (including shows) by the end of the day. So, we took a little detour, adding a Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 7:55PM (we had already ridden this earlier in the day through the standby line).
And, to fill in the time, we hit our last two attractions — Liberty Square Riverboat and The Hall of Presidents — completing everything in the park before 7:30PM!
And, then it was time for our victory lap on Big Thunder Mountain! So, all-in-all, we used Genie+ and IAS a total of 19 times.
We’re not going to lie, it was pretty exhausting and we don’t recommend this strategy for a leisurely vacation, but if you really want to go HARD in the parks, it’s doable. If you’re traveling to Disney World to enjoy the parks or get away from the hustle and bustle, we suggest making a list of priorities for the day and doing your best to knock those out first.
If you’re staying onsite, make use of the Early Theme Park Entry to accomplish more in the morning time. Genie+ and Individual Attractions Selection are great tools to help you avoid standing in line all day, but that doesn’t mean you should spend every minute “running and riding” — take some time to chill out in-between. (And definitely don’t forget to eat!)
So that was our experience with Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection in Magic Kingdom. Keep reading AllEars for more Disney World and Disney Genie news and tips!
Click Here to See What Opening Day of Disney Genie+ Was Like!
Are you planning to buy Genie+? Tell us in the comments!
I think we r going to do Lightening lane plus the Individual ride purchases. Especially fog Mine Train, ROTR, Avatar and Frozen.
I am a little confused. So if you purchase the individual lighting lanes for Space mountain or Seven dwarfs at 7 am can you still make Individual free selections at park opening like you did for 9 AM for splash mountain? you purchased at 9 and both rides were within the first 2 hours of park opening. But I think at Hollywood Studios one of your partners found if your purchased selection is for 2 hours or more after park opening you cant make individual free selections. That makes no sense. Its like Disney is punishing those who make purchases at 7 AM for more than 2 hours after park opening.