A Genie+ Timeline of What to Book When for Walt Disney World

Now that Disney Genie+ is in full force at Walt Disney World, it’s important to know all of the ins and outs of the new paid FastPass-style system.

Let’s face it, the service is a bit complex and there’s a lot to remember, including specific times of what you can book when.

And that’s where we step in! We’re here to help you not only stay organized during your Walt Disney World vacation, but to also keep all of the Genie+ details straight.

That’s exactly why we’ve created a Genie+ timeline of what you can book and when, including Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections and Individual Lightning Lane Attraction Selections.

We’ve even created a downloadable PDF so you can keep the information on hand at all times during your trip.

Now, let’s get to this Genie+ timeline for Walt Disney World!

In this article

Important Update to Genie+ & Individual Lightning Lane Selections at Walt Disney World

Beginning February 25 through August 7, three Individual Lightning Lane attractions will be included in the Genie+ service instead of as Individual Lightning Lane Selection purchases.

These attractions are as follows:

Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain
Epcot: Frozen Ever After
Hollywood Studios: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

As for Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, which is also considered a pay-to-ride offering, it is currently closed for refurbishment through at least April 30. Whenever it reopens, we will let you know where it falls — as an Individual Lightning Lane attraction or included in the Genie+ service.

There are no changes to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, or Flight of Passage. These remain Individual Lightning Lane attractions.

Genie+ Timeline

12 a.m. (and after) — All guests with valid theme park admission and a park reservation can purchase Genie+
7 a.m. — All guests can make Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections (don’t have to be inside park)
7 a.m. — Onsite guests can book Individual Lightning Lane Selections (don’t have to be inside park)
Park opening — Offsite guests can book Individual Lightning Lane Selections (don’t have to be inside park)
30 minutes prior to official park opening every day — Early Theme Park Entry begins for onsite guests (can’t use Genie+ or book Individual Lightning Lane attractions, but this extra time is beneficial)
2 hours after official park closing on select dates — Extending Evening Theme Park Hours begin for Deluxe and Deluxe Villas guests (can’t use Genie+ or book Individual Lightning Lane attractions, but this extra time is beneficial)

We go into more details below for each of these, so keep reading!

12 a.m. (and after) — Purchase Genie+

If you want to get Genie+ for the entire length of your ticket (all days of a multi-day visit), you can only do so by purchasing it with a ticket or vacation package ahead of your visit.

Important: You don’t have to buy Genie+ for non-park days. When you purchase Genie+ for the length of your stay, the price is based upon your ticket length, not the number of nights in your hotel.

Keep in mind that single-day purchases of Genie+ are only available directly through the My Disney Experience app on your date of visit. Third party 1-day tickets with Genie+ will continue to be sold through March 1, 2022.

If you didn’t purchase it for the entire length of your ticket, you’ll have to purchase it 1 day at a time on the day of your park visit, starting at 12 a.m. EST.

Note: When we say starting at 12 a.m. EST we simply mean that once the day changes, you can begin purchasing Genie+. You don’t have to stay up until midnight to buy it; you can buy Genie+ at anytime during the day (morning, afternoon, evening).

BUT, if you want to make your first Genie+ Lightning Lane selection at 7 a.m. along with everyone else (more on this below), you need to purchase Genie+ at some point before 7 a.m.

7 a.m. — Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections

Starting at 7 a.m. EST, all guests can begin making Genie+ Lightning Lane Selections and you don’t have to be inside the park to do so.

This means both onsite and offsite guests who have purchased Genie+ can make their first selection at this time.

With purchase ($15.98 per ticket per day), Genie+ allows guests to skip the Standby lines for select attractions and enter via the “Lightning Lane,” the new name for FastPass lines.

genie+ lightning lane selection booking times

When can I book my next Genie+ attraction?

Only ONE of these has to occur before you can use Genie+ to book your next Lightning Lane reservation:

If the most recently booked attraction return time is MORE than 2 hours away, you can make your next Genie+ Lightning Lane reservation at the 2-hour mark. IMPORTANT NOTE: The 2-hour clock starts when the park opens. If your first booking is more than 2 hours after the park opens, you’ll have to wait until 2 hours after park opening and not 2 hours after you booked.

OR
If your most recently booked Genie+ ride time is LESS than 2 hours away, as soon as you tap into the tapstiles at the attraction, you can book your next one. IMPORTANT NOTE: some of the more popular attractions have 2 tapstiles and some will have 1. If there are 2, you must tap into both before you’ll be able to make your next selection.

OR
If your most recently booked Genie+ Lightning Lane pass has EXPIRED (meaning you missed your return window), you can make a new Genie+ selection.

We’ve also created charts with examples to help you understand when you can book your next Genie+ selections.

As we’ve noted in each chart, these examples are simply that. Your bookings might not work out like this.

We just want to show you the reasoning for how and when you can make your next selections. When touring, you’ll have to work within the confines of the return times. And, the more busy the time of the year, the faster those return times will be pushed further into the day.

Example of booking Genie+ selections with your first return time MORE than 2 hours after park opening

Example of booking Genie+ selections with your first return time LESS than 2 hours after park opening

Open PDF version

The following are the eligible attractions you can book Genie+ selections for. Keep in mind that you can only pick the next available time when booking.

^* During busy times of the year, these attractions are available with Genie+ and not as an Individual Lightning Lane Selections

MAGIC KINGDOM	EPCOT	HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS	ANIMAL KINGDOM
Space Mountain^*	Frozen Ever After^*	Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway^*	Expedition Everest^*
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad	Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival	Alien Swirling Saucers	Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin	Journey into Imagination with Figment	Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage	DINOSAUR
Dumbo the Flying Elephant	Living with the Land	Disney Jr. Dance Party	Feathered Friends in Flight!
Festival of Fantasy Parade	Mission: SPACE – Green	For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration	It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
Haunted Mansion	Mission: SPACE – Orange	Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular	Kali River Rapids
“it’s a small world”	Soarin’	Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run	Kilimanjaro Safaris
Jungle Cruise	Spaceship Earth	Muppet*Vision 3D	Na’vi River Journey
Mad Tea Party	Test Track	Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster	The Animation Experience
Mickey’s PhilharMagic	The Seas with Nemo & Friends	See Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor	Turtle Talk with Crush	See Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
Peter Pan’s Flight		Slinky Dog Dash
Pirates of the Caribbean		Star Tours
Splash Mountain		The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Barnstormer		Toy Story Mania!
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway
Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
See Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
See Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall
See Mickey at Town Square Theater

7 a.m. — Individual Lightning Lane Selections for onsite guests

Onsite Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests (including those staying at Shades of Green and Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels) can start making individual Lightning Lane selections starting at 7 a.m. You don’t have to be inside the park to do so.

The Individual Lightning Lane Selections are not included with Genie+. They are sold separately and are pay-per-use.

This pay-per-ride option allows you to purchase a time to ride select popular attractions at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood, and Animal Kingdom. Once your return time is called, you can board the attraction using the Lightning Lane.

There is a maximum of 2 purchases per guest, per day. The 2 selections must be for 2 different Individual Lightning Lane attractions.

The following are the eligible Individual Lightning Lane attractions. Keep in mind that, unlike Genie+ selections, you can choose from a list of available times throughout the day when booking.

MAGIC KINGDOM	EPCOT	HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS	ANIMAL KINGDOM
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train	Frozen Ever After^*	Mickey & Minnie’s^*Runaway Railway	Expedition Everest^*
Space Mountain^*	Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure	Star War: Rise of the Resistance	Flight of Passage

^* During busy times of the year, these attractions are available with Genie+ and not as an Individual Lightning Lane Selection

Pricing for the pay-to-ride option varies by date, attraction, and park. The daily price will be listed next to each attraction on the day of purchase.

You can book both Individual Lightning Lane Selections at the same time. And, as long as you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can make selections at different parks.

Park opening — Individual Lightning Lane Selections for offsite guests

If you’re staying offsite, you can’t start making Individual Lightning Lane Selections until park opening — and you don’t have to be inside the park to do so.

There is a maximum of 2 purchases per guest, per day. The 2 selections must be for 2 different Individual Lightning Lane attractions.

individual lightning lane selection mine train park hopping

Keep in mind that pricing for the pay-to-ride option varies by date, attraction, and park. The daily price will be listed next to each attraction on the day of purchase.

You can book both Individual Lightning Lane Selections at the same time. And, as long as you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can make selections at different parks.

The list of available Individual Lightning Lane Selections are posted above.

30 minutes prior to official park opening — Early Theme Park Entry

For onsite guests (and other select hotels), they can take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry.

This simply allows these guests the chance to enter any of the 4 Walt Disney World theme parks 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests every day. Only select attractions are available during this time.

Important: You cannot use Genie+ or book Individual Lightning Lane Selections during this timeframe, but onsite guests should definitely take advantage of this extra time.

These are the following resorts that are eligible for Early Theme Park Entry:

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Jambo House
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Kidani Village
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
Disney’s BoardWalk Resort
The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Old Key West Resort
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside
Disney’s Riviera Resort
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
Shades of Green® on Walt Disney World® Resort
Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
Waldorf Astoria Orlando
B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
Holiday Inn Orlando
Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
Four Seasons Resort Orlando

2 hours after official park closing — Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

Guests staying at a Disney Deluxe or Disney Deluxe Villas Resort (plus other select hotels) have access to Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

These hours allow eligible guests to stay in either Magic Kingdom, Epcot, or Hollywood Studios for 2 hours past official park closing — but only on select dates.

You will need valid admission and a theme park reservation for the same park on the same day to experience extended evening hours OR have a ticket or annual pass with the Park Hopper option and first enter the park where you made your park reservation.

Here’s which attractions are available during the extra evening hours.

Important: You cannot use Genie+ or book Individual Lightning Lane Selections during this timeframe, but onsite guests should definitely take advantage of this extra time.

These are the following resorts that are eligible for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours:

Disney Deluxe Resorts

Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts

Other Select Hotels

Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
Shades of Green

Downloadable Genie+ Timeline

Here’s a Genie+ timeline that you can download.

We’ll be sure to update this timeline if or when changes are made by Walt Disney World.

Be sure to read all of our guides on Disney Genie, Genie+, and individual Lightning Lane attraction selections.