Disney World’s Genie feature is officially live in the parks now.
Scanning our card to get in a Lightning Lane
Guests can buy Genie+ for $15 per ticket, per day to skip the line for most Disney World rides. But the two most popular rides in each park have a separate fee to skip the line. These rides use Individual Attraction Selection (or Pay-Per-Ride), and the fees range in price from $7 to $15 right now. So how long would the wait have to be for you to pay to skip the line? We asked our readers, and here’s what you said.
If you buy Genie+, you can make reservations to skip the line on most Disney World rides throughout the day, and they’re all included in the $15 per ticket, per day that you pay at the beginning of the day. But you can only skip the line on those Pay-Per-Ride attractions by paying an additional fee.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Lightning Lane
Of course, you can always wait in standby for any Disney World ride, unless it’s using a virtual queue. Right now, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is the only Disney World ride with a virtual queue. The boarding pass for the virtual queue is also free, but spots are limited, and it can be a little tricky to use.
Click Here to Learn How to Use the Virtual Queue for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
We asked our readers on Instagram how long the wait time would have to be for them to pay the extra fee on those popular rides, and we got a LOT of responses.
Instagram Poll
Probably the most popular response was 60 minutes or more. A lot of people said one hour was about their limit: “I can do an hour, but after that I will consider buying one.”
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Another reader said any ride that had a wait time “consistently over 60 minutes,” so they’d keep an eye on the times throughout the day and shell out the cash if it didn’t drop.
Space Mountain
Some people were willing to wait in standby a little longer before paying to skip the line. One person said “Over 2 hours, and it would have to be for a ride I couldn’t miss (like Rise of the Resistance or Flight of Passage).”
Rise of the Resistance
Several other people agree that it “depends on the ride.” One reader “would only buy for Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.” These rides were listed several times as ones that people would be more willing to pay for.
Avatar Flight of Passage
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in particular was popular, since the only other way to get on is through the virtual queue. One reader said they’d pay “for the one with a boarding group that I don’t want to stress about.” It can be tough or stressful to get the boarding group (your spot in the virtual queue), so the Pay-Per-Ride might be a good back-up option for some families.
So pretty!
A lot of people said that it depends on the situation. One reader said “With two young kids? 40+ minutes.” And we saw that sentiment in other responses, like this one from another reader: “We have a toddler, so anything over 30 mins and I’m buying.”
Lightning Lane sign at Frozen Ever After
It might also depend on how many people are in your group. Pay-Per-Ride can get expensive fast when you’re buying passes for a lot of people. One reader said, “Anything over an hour probably, but I only have two people to pay for.”
Expedition Everest
For some readers, they thought the price was worth it for some rides no matter what. One reader said, “Making sure I get on the ride? Worth it.”
Rise of the Resistance
Others were adamant that no matter the wait time, they would not buy Pay-Per-Ride reservations. We had responses like “I wouldn’t ever,” “No limit; will never pay for lightning lanes,” and “Never going to pay for this.”
Standby Line Sign
In a poll on YouTube, we found that the responses to this same question — how long the wait has to be for you to pay to skip the line — were very even! “Over 60 Minutes,” “Over 120 Minutes,” and “Standby for me no matter what” all had the exact same percentage at 27% of respondents. “Over 90 minutes” had a little fewer, at 19%.
YouTube Poll Results
In general, we found that our readers are very split on this question. A lot of the responses showed that it depends on the situation. If people are traveling in a small group or with young kids, they might be more likely to buy Pay-Per-Ride reservations, even if the ride’s wait time isn’t super high. Other people will wait for much higher times before paying the extra fee to skip the line, or they will choose standby no matter what.
So where do you stand on this question? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! And keep following DFB for more updates and news as we try out Genie, Genie+, and Pay-Per-Ride in Disney World.
Click Here to See Our 6 Biggest Takeaways from the First Day of Disney Genie
All About Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selection
BIG Genie+ Changes Being Planned For Disney World
FULL List of Rides Included With Genie+ in Disney World
3 Tips to OUTSMART Genie+ in Disney World Right Now
Please Stop Skipping These Genie+ Hacks in Disney World (They Really Work!)
Genie+ Tips for the Most Crowded Days in Disney World and Disneyland
Click HERE to See More About Disney Genie
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How long would the wait time have to be for YOU to pay to skip the line? Let us know in the comments.
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Barbara a my family agrees we r pass holders and we r out of state pass holders they get enough of our money already and u r right if they keep this up there won’t b a Disney and the disgrace of that Walt Disney started this wonderful dream of his for all of us to enjoy he has b looking down with a broken heart and also his brother Roy also part of it
NEVER…NEVER….NEVER will I pay for a FP/LL. Been going every year since opening & NEVER waited more than 35 min for ANY ride. Ya need to know when to go.
Just came back from Disney this past Wed & sadly saw many young families….who obviously don’t have a clue…. PAY for LL @ 9:30 AM for Soariin’ (with a 10 min standby), Peter Pan 9:45 AM with a standby of 25min….even Small World…
So sad that no one really does their homework & Disney is capitalizing on it & also today’s youth !!
IMHO…the crowds were the absolute worst I’ve EVER seen & wish this anniversary was OVER ALREADY !!
I suppose you could consider the standard park ticket as a “discount ticket” for those not interested in a “fast pass” (Disney+). You no longer have to pay for “fast passes” if you don’t need them. The $15 extra is for those who want to include the “fast pass” option.
We just returned from a week at Disney (Wilderness Lodge). The new Disney+ service worked great, much better than the old Fast Pass system, and the new pay-per-ride system allowed us to ride Rise of the Resistance with ease. No more struggling to get in a virtual queue at 7am in a 45 second window. The only day we didn’t purchase Disney+ was Friday at EPCOT. Both rides my wife really wanted to ride were the “special ones”, for which we easily purchased Lightning Lane passes at a time WE chose.
Two thumbs-up for the new Disney+ service.
I hope Disney will go back to the Fastpass + system. For a family to pay extra to get on a ride can be very expensive. They have already paid for a Disney resort stay and park admission. Why charge again when you already paid admission? The perks staying on property are decreasing as well.
There is no reason to charge admission n 2 the parks and then pay 4 rides that is absolutely something my family won’t do ever
I think you can all give up on FastPass+ coming back. Prices were going to go up, probably to that price with Genie+. You can now purchase a “no-frills” ticket if you cannot afford the extra $15 park entry that includes Genie+, which worked better than FastPass+ for us last week. We were able to ride all the “fancy rides” without the problem of trying to get in a boarding group within 60 seconds at 7am. Lightning Lane lines were quite short, though the LL had only begun 5 days before our trip and most were trying to figure it out. It was very easy to make or change a LL reservation during the day. WAY better than FastPass+.