If you follow my Walt Disney World Planning Guide, step twelve is all about park touring strategy. Part of formulating your park strategy will likely include utilizing the resort’s Disney Genie service.
What is Disney Genie?
Disney Genie is part of the My Disney Experience mobile app that lets you…
- Check park wait times
- Make park dining reservations
- Place park mobile orders
- Purchase access to Lightning Lane queues
- Plan & track your park day
How Do You Access?
- Create a Disney account on disneyworld.com
- Download the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device
- Log in with your Disney account
- Click the hamburger menu in the lower right corner of the app.
Check Park Wait Times
- Click Tip Board > Select park > Scroll attractions
Make Park Dining Reservations
- Click Tip Board > Select park > Click Dining tab > Scroll options > Select Make a Reservation
Place Park Mobile Orders
- Click Tip Board > Select park > Click Dining tab > Scroll options > Select Order Food
Purchase Access to Lightning Lane Queues
What is Lightning Lane?
Nearly every attraction has a Lightning Lane (e.g. shorter wait) queue. You need to buy Genie+ to access this shorter wait queue for most attractions. Some attractions require a separate, Individual Lightning Lane queue purchase. You will need your park ticket and reservation linked to your Disney account prior to purchasing either.
What is Genie+?
Genie+ is Disney’s same-day attraction reservation system. It replaced FastPass+. Purchasing Genie+ gives once-a-day access to Lightning Lane at a majority of attractions and experiences. You’ll need Genie+ for every member of your party accessing Lightning Lanes. Purchase it PRIOR to 7am EST each morning of your visit. Price varies per day and per park. See all Genie+-enabled attractions.
To purchase Genie+:
- Click Tip Board > Click Purchase for Today
You’ll make your first Genie+ selection at 7am EST each morning. To do this:
- Click Tip Board > Select park > Scroll attractions > Click LL Genie+
You’ll make another selection after two-hours (120 minutes) OR once you use the first selection. The two-hours start from park opening time – not 7am. You can hold multiple selections simultaneously and modify selections as needed.
Genie+ also includes digital downloads of select Disney PhotoPass attraction photos, access to PhotoPass AR lenses, and behind-the-scenes audio clips.
What is Individual Lightning Lane?
A few attractions aren’t included with Genie+. Instead you’ll need to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane to access these queues. See all Lightning Lane-enabled attractions.
To purchase Individual Lightning Lane entry:
- Click Tip Board > Select park > Scroll attractions > Click LL Individual Lighting Lane
Disney Resort guests can purchase starting at 7am EST each day. Other guests can purchase starting at park open. You can purchase up to two ILL’s each day (one at a time) and can modify as needed.
Plan & Track Your Day
Genie suggests daily park itineraries based on favorites (attractions, dining, etc.) you set via the Plan Your Day process. While the itineraries are often not optimal, setting your favorites moves these selections to the top of their respective Tip Board lists for quick selection access. You can modify these favorites as needed.
To plan your day:
- Click My Disney Genie Day > Start Now > Select Start Now > Select Date & Party > Select Favorites
Following setup, My Disney Genie Day will display your suggested itinerary and reservations (e.g. Genie+ selections, dining reservations, etc) starting at 7am EST each day.
Additional Notes:
- Genie+ is most useful at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, moderately useful at EPCOT, and least useful at Animal Kingdom
- Guests can enter Lightning Lanes up to 5 minutes early and 15 minutes late.
- Return times for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane are assigned irrespective of both existing selections and dining reservation times
- Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane attraction availability changes constantly
- If booking both a Genie+ selection and Individual Lightning Lane, prioritize Genie+ at 7am EST – or use two mobile devices to do both at the same time.
Genie+ Enabled Attractions
Magic Kingdom
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Enchanted Tales with Belle
- Festival of Fantasy Parade
- Haunted Mansion
- It’s a Small World
- Jungle Cruise
- Mad Tea Party
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Meet Ariel at Her Grotto
- Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
- Meet Mickey and Minnie at Town Square Theater
- Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
- Space Mountain
- Goofy’s Barnstormer
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
Epcot
- Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Frozen Ever After
- Mission Space
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Hollywood Studios
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage
- Disney Jr. Play & Dance
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- MuppetVision 3D
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours — The Adventures Continue
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania
Animal Kingdom
- Festival of the Lion King
- Dinosaur
- Expedition Everest
- 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 Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
- Na’vi River Journey
- The Animation Experience at Conservation Station
Individual Lightning Lane-Enabled Attractions
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom
- TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Avatar Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom
