If you’re thinking about heading to Disney World soon, there’s a lot you’ve got to consider. Did you buy your tickets? Have you made park pass reservations? What about a hotel, and figuring out which of the many, many restaurants you’re going to dig into?

Genie+

And, what might be the most important of all — how are you going to tackle those rides?! You could be a staunch standby supporter and wait in lines the old-fashioned way, or you could pay more to skip the lines with Genie+. But, do you still even need Genie+ in Disney World?

Things have been a bit…chaotic around Disney World, to say the least. We’ve seen construction changes and new restaurants open, and we’ve also just learned that a ton of updates are on the horizon for the parks — including changes to Genie+.

Disney has acknowledged that they’ve heard guests saying they wish they could “plan with Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit” and Disney has now shared that they’re “working on ways guests may do this for visits in 2024.”

You might remember that Genie+’s predecessor, FastPass+, allowed guests to plan which rides they wanted to skip the line on well in advance of their trip — and Disney is possibly working on a way to make that happen next year. They haven’t revealed just what those changes will be yet, but more details are set to be released at a future date. It seems the overall goal will be to “simplify” your Genie+ experience.

Tower of Terror Lightning Lane sign

But, since those potential changes aren’t rolling out anytime soon, we’ve still got to work with the Genie+ we’ve got. And if you’re wondering whether or not you might need the skip-the-line service on your upcoming trip — here’s what we know.

Spaceship Earth Lightning Lane

Now that Genie+ is subject to surge pricing, we can usually get a good idea of the demand for the service based on how much the cost fluctuates from day to day. This week, the price of Genie+ has steadily gone down, but we’ve still got the weekend ahead of us. On Monday, May 15th, Genie+ was $22 per person, per day. The Individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was $11, Cosmic Rewind was $15, Rise of the Resistance was $22 (!!!), Flight of Passage was $14, and TRON was $20.

Lightning Lane at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

The next day, demand for Genie+ didn’t seem quite as high based on pricing. The base price was $20 per person, per day. That pattern continued for the following day, and the cost of Genie+ dropped again — to $18 per person, per day. But, as the weekend crept up — so did the price to skip the lines. By Thursday, Genie+ was back to $22 for the standard service.

Lightning Lane entry

We haven’t seen multi-hour waits in the parks recently, with recent Magic Kingdom waits barely breaking 90 minutes for Seven Dwarfs. In EPCOT, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was the longest wait with 95 minutes. It’s no surprise that Flight of Passage had the highest wait in Animal Kingdom recently, reaching 105 minutes at its peak. Similarly, Rise of the Resistance has seen sub-100-minute waits recently.

You can find Lightning Lanes at many attractions within the parks!

So, do you need Genie+ in Disney World right now? It’s complicated. But, it’s probably a good idea to budget a little extra on your trip in case the wait times aren’t what you’re expecting. Either way, we’ll keep up with the latest Genie+ pricing and Disney World news, so stick with DFB for more.

Cinderella Castle

We know that planning a Disney World trip is A LOT. And this Genie+ thing (especially when combined with everything else) can be so confusing – which is why we bring you posts like this. But we’ve also put together a complete guide in ebook format that gives you all of the info you need, all in one place!

Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for the latest Disney Genie+ news and more!

Learn Everything You Need To Know About Genie+ Here

Are you still using Genie+ in the parks? Tell us in the comments.