Disney implemented a new ride system for “skipping” the line in October of 2021, replacing the previous FastPass system with a new system called Genie+ that allows guests paid access to shorter lines called Disney Lightning Lane.
Lightning Lanes are offered to guests purchasing access to Disney World Genie+ for a set amount of attractions plus the most popular and new attractions also have Lightning Lane access available for a separate purchase.
The basic breakdown and ranking of the best Disney Lightning Lanes to purchase will help jump-start your knowledge of the Genie System. We visit Walt Disney World every week and our guides come with the expertise of all our personal experience including using Disney Lightning Lanes on every theme park visit. Keep reading for the full overview of all the terms to know for Disney Lightning Lanes and Genie+ plus our best tips on using this paid service.
In this article:
Disney Genie+ Terms to Know
Lightning Lane: New name for FastPass+ entrances. This is the actual queues or lines. Both Genie+ and Individual Attraction Lightning Lane users will utilize to “skip” the line.
Genie Service: Disney offers a FREE Genie service to help you plan your day. It is a personalized itinerary that offers suggestions based on reservations you already have, crowd predictions for wait times, and other items to help maximize your time in the park. Accessed through your My Disney Experience App.
Genie+: Additional purchased service to have access to make lighting lane selections throughout the day. Accessed through your My Disney Experience App.
Individual Attraction Lightning Lane: Additional purchased service for one specific ride in one specific park. Accessed through your My Disney Experience App.
Standby: For guests who are not using Genie+ or an Individual Lightning Lane, you will enter the ride through the standby entrance. Wait times are posted and include estimates with Genie+ or Lightning Lane users included.
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Individual Lightning Lane vs. Genie Plus Overview
So Individual Attraction Lightning Lanes and Genie Plus are both additional purchases to “skip” the line. Why are there two different ways? Is one better than the other? What do I get if I only buy one of them?
Genie Plus Facts
- Guests can purchase Disney Genie+ on a day-to-day basis starting at midnight.
- You don't have to be staying on property to do this.
- Once you purchase Disney Genie+, starting at 7:00 AM on the day of your visit, you'll be able to make your first Disney Lightning Lane selection.
- Once you enjoy that attraction, or two hours after making your selection (whatever comes sooner), you can then make another Lightning Lane selection.
- You can keep doing that throughout the day until there are no more Lightning Lane selections available. Most guests can get at least 2-3 selections per day.
- Prices vary day to day and park to park. Magic Kingdom and the multi-park genie plus will always be the highest ($20-$35). Animal Kingdom is typically the lowest ($15-$25).
Lightning Lane Facts
- Available for select high-demand attractions in the theme parks
- Guests staying at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel can book Individual Lightning Lanes starting at 7:00 AM. Those staying off property will have to wait and book their Individual Lightning Lanes at the scheduled theme park opening time.
- You can use this service with or without purchasing Disney Genie+.
- Even if you have Disney Genie+, Individual Disney Lightning Lanes do cost extra.
- The cost of each Individual Lightning Lane varies by attraction.
- You can book up to two Individual Lightning Lane entrances per day per Guest.
Genie Plus In-Depth
How to Purchase
- To purchase Disney Genie+, open up the My Disney Experience Mobile App
on the home screen you should find something in purple that says, “Disney Genie+ Service.” - Tap “Purchase”
- Then tap “Continue” and you'll be taken to a list of all the people in your party that you've added via My Friends & Family.
- You're going to want to select the members of your party that will use this service.
- Once you do that, you'll then make your purchase.
Disney Lightning Lane Attractions Included
Guests can access the following attraction's Disney Lighting Lanes with the purchase of Genie+.
Magic Kingdom
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Disney Festival of the Fantasy Parade
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- “It’s a small world”
- Jungle Cruise
- Mad Tea Party
- Meet Ariel at Her Grotto
- Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
- Meet Mickey at Town Square Theater
- Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Space Mountain
- The Barnstormer
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
EPCOT
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Frozen Ever After
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission Space: Green and Orange
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Animal Kingdom
- Festival of the Lion King
- DINOSAUR
- Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
- Feathered Friends in Flight!
- Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!
- It’s Tough to be a Bug!
- Kali River Rapids
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Meet Favorite Diney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
- Navi River Journey
- The Animation Experience at Conservation Station
Hollywood Studios
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- Disney Junior Play & Dance
- For the First time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours- The Adventures Continue
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania
Individual Lightning Lane In-Depth
How to Purchase
- Check the My Disney Experience app on the day of your park visit for current prices and attraction availability. Pricing and availability varies by attraction and park.
- From the main menu in the My Disney Experience mobile app, select “Tip Board”.
- Select an individual Lightning Lane experience and follow the prompts to purchase.
Individual Lightning Lanes For Purchase
- AVATAR Flight of Passage – Animal Kingdom
- Guardians of the Galaxy – EPCOT
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – Magic Kingdom
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – Hollywood Studios
- TRON Lightcycle Run – Magic Kingdom
Disney Lightning Lanes Ranked
There are currently only 5 rides that are individually purchased and not included in the Genie Plus price. If you are short on money and would rather put your dollars to the Genie Plus purchase for the day, this is the order we recommend you purchase individual lightning lanes in.
- TRON Lightcycle Run
Even though TRON has the ability to be booked through the virtual queue system, this ride is so new that the virtual queue is filling up incredibly quickly for both time slots during the day.
Our recommendation is that this is a top priority for an individual purchase because it is such a new and fun ride. It is also a shorter ride, so potentially being able to go on it with your virtual queue and individual lightning lane is a bonus.
2. Avatar Flight of Passage
Avatar Flight of Passage ranks number two on our list. Unlike Tron, there is no virtual queue for this ride, so the only way to hope to get a shorter wait time is to purchase the individual lightning lane.
Even though this ride has been open for many years, it is a guest favorite due to the immersive experience the ride offers. Even during the first 3o minutes of Animal Kingdom’s opening, guests can wait in line for the ride for over 90 minutes. This is a must do at Animal Kingdom and a must purchase for an Individual Lightning Lane.
3. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs should be high on your list of individual lightning lane priorities if you enjoy the ride because there is no virtual queue available. It is also not uncommon for wait times to climb to over 80 minutes even early in the morning of park opening.
For many Dinsey-goers, Seven Dwarfs is a great mid-level roller coaster at Magic Kingdom and is a great thrill experience that should be done each time you visit. Purchasing the lightning lane allows you to go and rope-drop another ride like Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain that does not have access to an individual lightning lane.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Even though Guardians is a newer ride, like TRON, we do not have it high on the priority list for lightning lane. With the option to get the virtual queue twice, there is a high chance to be able to ride it without paying the extra price.
Guardians is one of the best rides in EPCOT, but EPCOT has some intense thrill rides throughout the park already and the experience of the World Showcase draws much of the crowd throughout the day. During peak seasons, getting an individual lightning lane may be more of a priority, but for the most part, try the virtual queue first.
5. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
The last ride on our list is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This ride is great, immersive, and one of our favorites. That is, when it doesn’t break down. Rise of the Resistance is now offered through the stand-by line, and most of the time the crowd at rope drop is split between the four major rides in Hollywood Studios, so if you make Rise your priority, the wait time isn’t extreme until about an hour after the park opens.
The one downside to Rise of the Resistance is that due to its trackless vehicle ride system, the ride goes down a lot for maintenance throughout the day. While we love the ride, it is not always high on the priority list to purchase the lightning lane because there isn’t always a guarantee you will be able to ride it on any given day.
Disneyland Lighting Lane
While we have talked a lot about Walt Disney World, some of you may be more familiar with Disneyland. Or maybe you are looking to visit Disneyland soon and want to know how the two compare.
Genie Plus
This new replacement of FastPass at Disneyland allows you to book return times from the Disneyland app for popular rides to wait in the newly named Lightning Lanes (same as Walt Disney World) and avoid longer standby queues.
Disney Genie+ costs start at $25 per person when purchased on site, per day. It includes access to 19 rides along with unlimited PhotoPass downloads.
Individual Lightning Lane
Similar to the Individual Lightning Lane System at Walt Disney World, Disneyland offers a few attractions to be purchased individually at $15-25, depending on the attraction.
Attractions that are part of the Lightning Lane Purchase capabilities include:
Rise of the Resistance – Disneyland
Radiator Springs Racers – Disney California Adventure
Disneyland has much fewer options for purchasing the individual lightning lanes but the costs between Disney World and Disneyland are comparable.
Ready to Plan Your Next Disney Vacation?
Now that you have a better understanding of the Genie System including Genie Plus and Individual Lightning Lanes, we hope you are ready to plan your next Disney vacation. For all of your Disney planning needs, make sure to subscribe to our FREE newsletter. Here you will find the newest information, exclusive discounts, and planning guides. For now, check out our other online planning resources available to you on our website:
- How to Buy Genie+ at Walt Disney World
- Tips for Saving Time With Genie+ at Disney World
- Guardians of the Galaxy Virtual Queue Tips
- Beware These 10 Things That Will Complicate Your Disney Vacation, How to Beat Them
- Disney World Roller Coasters Ranked Worst to Best
Lightning lane varies in price depending on the date, park, and individual ride chosen. Guests can expect to pay anywhere between $9-$30 for an individual lightning lane.
Lightning Lane is the selected entrance for guests who have purchased Individual Lightning Lane attractions or Genie Plus attraction return times. Guests will use this entrance instead of the standby entrance.
Guests are able to book up to two individual lightning lane entries per day, one at a time.
Lightning lane is the actual entrance where you access your Genie Plus return time wait for an individual attraction. Genie Plus purchases gives you access to book the next available time slot for rides in the park. Individual Lightning lane lets you access one of the 5 designated attractions at a specific time during the day.
