We took our three kids (ages 6, 3, and 9 months) to Disney World during an admittedly busy week – school vacation week. We knew there would be crowds. But we aren’t the type of people to want to truly max out on a Disney park day anyway, so we didn’t think it would be a problem. We didn’t plan to rope drop, and I had a loose idea of which rides we’d go to in which order. Before we left for our trip, I did some research about Genie Plus (which replaced the old Fastpass system at Disney and is now called Lightning Lane). It feels like you need a PhD in these Disney programs to really do it right. (But we also haven’t been to Disney in almost 5 years!)
I wasn’t sure if we really needed Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus) for our group, so we decided on the first day at Magic Kingdom to just go with the flow and see how it went. That was a bit of a mistake. Do I think Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus) is worth it? Yes, if you want to avoid waiting in lines. Yes, if you want to get on a lot of rides. I feel like the days we had Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus) we cut our wait time in half at least. Read on to find out how our day at Magic Kingdom (without Genie Plus) was compared to the other two park days with Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus)- (at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT). Find out how much we paid for skipping the standby lines, and if we thought it was worth it. (If you want to know exactly how to book Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus), there’s a great tutorial on this WDW website.)
Magic Kingdom at Disney World: Do you need Genie Plus?
I wish we had done Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus) at Magic Kingdom. It’s undoubtedly one of the busiest parks, especially with the 6 and under crowd, and every line seemed to be 40+ minutes, regardless of the ride. Without Lightning Lanes we were still able to do a few rides (keep in mind, my kids are young!). Looking back at my original itinerary, it’s laughable how much I thought we could do in one day.
Magic Kingdom without Lightning Lane (then called Genie Plus)
Our day looked something like this:
- Enter Magic Kingdom at 11am and go to Tomorrowland for the Tomorrowland Speedway (40 min wait) – I didn’t realize that it would take SO long to get into the park from the parking lot. We left our hotel (a 30 minute ride) at 9:15am and didn’t walk into the actual park until 11am. See all about where we stayed for our Disney World trip at this post!
- Snack at Cheshire Cat
- Carousel for the whole group (~15 minute wait)
- It’s A Small World
- Lunch at Pinocchio Haus (indoors, lots of tables upstairs that no one seemed to know about)
- Catch the 3pm parade right in front of the river boat
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tiki Room (great spot if you need to nurse a baby!)
- Aladdin’s Magic Carpets
- Dinner from Cosmic Ray’s
- Back to Tomorrowland Speedway for another ride
- My husband had booked himself on TRON so he rode that while we lined up for the fireworks (TRON is a virtual queue only that you have to sign up for either at 7am or 1pm sharp)
I would 100% get Lightning Lane for Magic Kingdom in the future. We weren’t able to do some of the rides we wanted to because of the wait times. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was averaging an hour wait on standby, Jungle Cruise was an average of two hours waiting, Mad Tea Party was 45 minutes, Peter Pan’s Flight was 75-80 minutes average, etc. It seemed like every ride was at least 40 minutes waiting. I actually looked around 11:30am to see if we could still book Lightning Lane for the day, and it was totally sold out and not available anymore. So next time we will definitely get Lightning Lane.
Magic Kingdom cost of Lightning Lane
Lightning Lane at Magic Kingdom is the most expensive of all the parks. The price fluctuates based on the day. When we were there in February 2024 it was $32 per person. When I checked on March 23, 2024 the price for Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane was $39 per person. (There is a multiple parks option for those with Park Hopper tickets, and that same day it was the same price of $39 per person.)
Animal Kingdom and Lightning Lane
Animal Kingdom was the second park we visited on our trip. I knew we wanted to do the Kilimanjaro Safari ride as our main attraction, and the wait times were 2 hours or more each day that I looked (leading up to our day at the park). So when it came time for our AK day, I got Lightning Lane (then called Genie+). We booked the Nav’i River ride first, and then as soon as we checked into that I booked the Safari for right after lunchtime. It worked perfectly. My husband was able to do his own check in for Expedition Everest (which the kids and I weren’t interested in), so he rode that as well.
Our Animal Kingdom itinerary using Lightning Lane (then called Genie+)
- 10am Nav’i River Journey (booked with G+)
- Triceratops Spin (10 minute wait on standby)
- 12:30pm Lunch at Rainforest Cafe
- 1pm Kilimanjaro Safaris (booked with G+)
- Walked Gorilla Falls to see the meerkats
- 2:30pm Expedition Everest for Dad (booked on Lightning Lane), kids and Mom got popcorn, frozen banana, and ice cream snacks
- Back to hotel for pool, dinner, and rest
You’ll see that we had some time between Lightning Lane rides. It wasn’t perfect using their Genie+ system because you get whatever time the system gives you, but it worked out fairly well for our Animal Kingdom day. (I’m hopeful that’s better now with Lightning Lane vs. Genie+!) We just filled the time in between with snacks, slow walking, and letting our kids explore.
Animal Kingdom cost of Lightning Lane (then called Genie+)
Genie Plus at Animal Kingdom was the cheapest of all the parks, at $19 per person including tax. The price fluctuates based on the day. When I checked on March 23, 2024 the price for Animal Kingdom Genie+ was $29 per person. I assume that’s just because it’s spring break for many states, so the park is at higher capacity than when we were there.
EPCOT with Lightning Lane
On our EPCOT day our kids had two main goals: 1. Go on the FROZEN ride. 2. Meet Elsa and Anna. That was literally all my kids asked to do, so I set out to make it happen. We booked Genie Plus (now called Lightning Lane) for our EPCOT day, but did our meet and greet right after when the line was only about 35 minutes long. Later in the day the FROZEN ride was about 125 minutes long, which is insane. Way too long to wait for a 5 minute ride, if you ask me. (Though the ride is adorable.)
EPCOT itinerary with Lightning Lane (then called Genie+)
Our EPCOT day was another slow day. The kids were tired (I think we went too hard on our first day) and I didn’t want to push it, so we just did a few things. The main reason for getting Genie Plus (now called Lightning Lane) was to get on the FROZEN ride with no wait. I had seen a 2 hour wait the days leading up to our EPCOT day and knew that just wasn’t going to go well with my crew, so I thought let’s just get Genie+ and then we know we don’t have to wait.
- 10am FROZEN Ever After (booked with G+)
- Snack from the Norway House (SO GOOD)
- 11am got in line to meet Elsa and Anna (35 minute wait)
- 11:45am Dad and Grandma went to Soarin’, Mom and kids went to aquarium
- 12:30pm Lunch at Coral Reef (great, hidden spot)
- After lunch: Walk around the countries, met Pooh in England
- Got face paint near Germany (a highlight for the kids)
- Stopped at the Creations store on our way out
EPCOT cost of Lightning Lane (formerly called Genie+)
So how much is Genie Plus? For Genie Plus at EPCOT, it cost us $22 per person including tax. When I looked on March 23, 2024 the EPCOT price was $32 per person, again probably because it’s spring break for many states. The park capacity fluctuates with the time of year, and as more people are in the parks, the prices of Genie Plus go up.
Final thoughts on is Lightning Lane worth it
So do you need Lightning Lane? No. But will it make your day a lot easier? For sure.
Looking for more Disney content? Right this way!
Other Disney World posts
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Where we stayed for Disney World in Orlando: Omni at Championsgate Review
Where we stayed for Disney World in Orlando: Four Seasons Orlando Review
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